


Beyond Natural

by theauthor2010



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Slavery, F/F, F/M, M/M, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-28
Updated: 2011-09-04
Packaged: 2017-10-20 20:03:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 32,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/216612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theauthor2010/pseuds/theauthor2010
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. In a world where all with any amount of nonhuman blood are slaves, Kurt and Finn are sold. However, the dastardly villain they are sold to is anything but what he seems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

When Finn came slowly into the main room of their prison cell, he saw that Kurt had managed to get the window open. His stepbrother was staring out of it and didn't even turn around when Finn reentered the room. "Kurt," he said gently to his devastated brother, "this room is at least eight floors up and there are no trees or bushes to climb down. There's no way that we can escape like that. Why did you-"

"I wasn't considering escaping," Kurt said harshly, his voice clipped and cold. He didn't even sound like Kurt anymore and honestly, he hadn't since they'd been taken. He was losing himself fast and Finn didn’t know how he could save him. "I was considering the fall. Do you think that it would kill us to fall from this high up?"

He approached the window and looked over Kurt's shoulder. The fall was huge. He winced as the cold night air gushed in past him. It was another freezing Winter night in Ohio. "I think so," he said. "I know it'd kill me. You're all graceful and stuff though so maybe you'd survive."

"Would you jump?" Kurt asked, his voice trembling and growing high pitched with strain. "Would you jump with me, Finn? I don't want to die in whatever way that sadistic madman comes up with. I don't want to die there." Tears flowed freely down Kurt's pale cheeks and Finn suddenly caught onto the fact that his shoulders were shaking. He wrapped his arms around Kurt and held him steady. He was trying to be strong as Kurt fell apart but it wasn’t working for him.

"Kurt, we can't kill ourselves."

"Why can’t we, Finn?" he asked. His voice was raw and somewhat accusatory. "Finn, they took us from our parents because we have a tiny bit of nonhuman blood in us. We've been bought by a madman. You know what Lord Schuester does to his slaves. They've never come out alive. There are all these rumors about torture devices and experiments…mangled parts winding up in places… I just would rather die by my own hands. Wouldn't you? I don’t think that we can…”

Finn didn't know. He didn't want to die at all. He was only seventeen. He missed him mom and was terrified of never seeing her again; he was also being persecuted for a bloodline he didn't understand. Dying wasn't on his list of things to do. "I don't want to die, Kurt," he said softly, a little more firmly. It hurt how quickly the bravest guy he knew had turned to thoughts of suicide.

"I know, Finn," Kurt said, turning his head back. "I don't want to die either but I'm scared."  
Finn looked out beyond Kurt's shoulder. The night air was absolutely freezing. He glanced down the length of the tower, all the way to the solid ground beneath. "I don't want to do it," he said softly, his throat closing up a little on the words. He thought Kurt was super brave for being unafraid to die but Finn was afraid. He wanted to have faith that he wouldn't die. He wanted to have faith that nonhumans would be free someday. Faith was really all that he had left.

Kurt looked at him with an anguished, defeated expression. "If you say so Finn," he said, closing the window with a harsh anger to him. "I'm just really not sure why we're waiting for him to come do whatever horrible thing he wants to us."

"I don't know, Kurt," Finn choked. He wrapped both arms around his stepbrother once more and pulled him into a hug. It used to make things better. Now, well, they had been dragged screaming from their parents and very little could just make things better. He held on to Kurt and told him without words that he loved him. Even though they had been ripped away from everything that made them safe, they were together.

Kurt’s hopes that maybe they could escape through suicide were soon taken, anyway, when their guards returned to them and moved them to a lower cell. They spent the next days in silence, Kurt almost angry at Finn, even though he was not the cause of the rage. After two days passed guards led them down to some armored carts, which they found were occupied by several other matted and tattered slaves. It was the early days of the slave trade, Finn supposed. Every single person who was identified as having even the slightest traces of nonhuman blood was taken into slavery. There was a sort of mass hysteria to the world that he hadn’t even begun to comprehend until he and Kurt were taken.

“I’m sorry,” he told Kurt, as they sat down inside of the cart. He hugged Kurt tightly with one of his arms. He wished that he at least understood why everyone hated them so much. He wondered if when they arrived at Schuester’s manor, Kurt would hate him for taking away the chance to die. Finn just couldn’t handle the idea of dying like that, taking his own life. Maybe that made him a coward. It probably did.

The journey to their final destination was long. A young slave girl with a faint blue tinge to her skin and protrusions in the back of her shirt that were probably wings of some type looked at them with astonishment when she found out where they were going. “Those two are already dead,” she whispered, horror in her silvery blue eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

They day before they arrived, Kurt spoke to Finn in soft words that were indication of how broken he was. “Finn, I love you,” he said, softly. “You becoming my brother was literally the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Same here Kurt,” Finn said with as comforting of a voice as he could manage when he was faced with the huge mansion. He knew that their story was quickly coming to an end and he hated it. He wanted to fight, wanted to protect Kurt, but because he couldn’t give up his life, he walked to his death as boldly as he could.

They were greeted by a large, imposing, stern looking woman. “These are the two William bought?” she asked in a cold, detached tone of voice. “The little one’s elven and the big one’s titan?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Thank you. You can get out of here now.”

Finn held his breath and boldly put himself in front of Kurt.


	2. Chapter 2

"Even for a part elf you look way too skinny," the woman said, eying Kurt. Finn stepped in the way, wondering if the scary looking woman wanted to eat his brother. He may have been a coward but there was no way in hell was he going to let that happen. Did that even happen? He had no idea but he wasn't going to let it. "We'll have to get some food into you. Come on in boys. It's safe. Kid, you need to relax and pull some air into your lungs. Nobody's hurtin ya."

Finn walked inside, still shielding Kurt with the large body he now knew was his father's. He eyed every corner suspiciously, afraid. There was nothing that alerted his terror though. There were no implements of torture lining the walls and in fact, Kurt and Finn walked into what looked like an extravagant but normal living room. There were couches and coffee tables all around that sort of reminded Finn of the teacher's lounge at his old high school.

"I know you guys have a lot of questions," the woman said tenderly. "Will and I will do our best to answer them all but aint nobody gonna come hurt you here. You guys are safe." Finn didn’t understand safe at all. He put himself between Kurt and the woman every time she tried to get close. “I’m not going to touch your brother, kid,” she said, putting her hand on his shoulder. She pressed down lightly, looking him in the eye. There was so much sincerity in her eyes. “I know you kids have heard things about Will, but they’re false. You’ll understand in a sec.”

It was then that Finn realized there were other people in the room. There was a girl with dark hair and what he was sure were wings protruding from her back talking animatedly to another girl, a blonde. The blonde girl wasn’t as obviously supernatural but had a silvery glow radiating off of her. They were young teenagers and they were obviously not human. Finn looked at Kurt, who was completely silent still but gave him a deep look.

“Will!” the woman yelled in a voice that was almost bellowing. Kurt’s eyes got a little wide, alarmed.

A rather unimpressive man walked into the room. Finn raised an eyebrow. Was this really Will Schuester, the infamous torturer? It didn’t make any sense at all. “Are these the new boys?” Will asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at the woman. She gave him a quick nod and he broke into a smile. “Hi guys. My name is Will Schuester. I’m sure that Shannon has explained everything to you. You’re perfectly safe here and I’m glad to see you all in one piece.”

Kurt coughed. “Actually, she didn’t explain a thing,” he said, the first words he’d spoken since they arrived and even those words seemed strained.

The man looked confused. “Oh I’m sorry,” he said, reaching out to touch Kurt. Finn immediately put himself in the way. He looked Finn up and down and then started talking. “I know that I have a very devious reputation,” he said. “This is something that I, well, Shannon and I have created in order to keep people from interfering with what we do. The operation we run here is very much illegal. We both knew that we had to do it though.”

“What is it that you do?” Finn asked, bluntly.

“We protect young people with nonhuman characteristics,” the woman explained clearly, taking over the job of actually giving them an explanation. “We give them a place to stay, give them things to do with their lives and give their parent’s assurance that they’re not being enslaved to racist madmen.”

The man next to her looked over at the wall. There was an intricate clock on the wall. “Shannon, we have to meet Sue about the estate,” he said. “Rachel!” A petite brunette girl immediately appeared and walked over to their side when he called. “Rachel, Shannon and I have to go into a meeting. Can you please take these two young men to the room I told you belonged to them?”

“Oh this is Finn and Kurt?” she said, perking up and smiling. “I got it, Mr. Schue. Come on you guys, you have a really nice room.”

They didn’t seem to have much of a choice aside from following the girl. She was a pretty, perky girl of about the same age as them. She walked at a fast pace, unable to comprehend why they were absolutely horrified. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said. “I’m Rachel and well, I’m sort of the unofficial leader of the group. I know that you must be exhausted. I remember the slave trade and being carted around oh too well. I’ll take you up to your room. You don’t mind sharing if there are two separate beds, do you?”

Finn shook his head, overwhelmed. "No, we don't mind but, we don't understand. We were both sure we'd die horrible deaths but instead we're in some crazy mansion. The guy, Schuester, he explained what he does but..."

She put a hand on him. "Will Schuester is a hero," she said. "He's been saving nonhumans for years. He's built up the reputation you know, of the deadly Lord Schuester, to keep the authorities off his trail. It keeps people from getting close."

Finn kind of understood what she meant by that, but he must have had a blank expression on his face because the girl leaned close and put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re perfectly safe,” she said softly. “There is nothing at all to worry about here. You have to tell me though, what are you?”

“What am I?” he asked.

“You have to have some strange blood in you to be a slave,” she said softly, shaking her head sadly. “What’s your secret? It doesn’t have to be as much of a secret here, now that we’re safe inside. When we go out for performances and such, it changes but this is a place where you don’t have to hide what you truly are.”

“I’m part Titan,” Finn mumbled. “I guess my dad was. It’s a small trace of blood but...”

“Good enough for the bastards ruling this place,” Kurt snapped.

Rachel turned her head, just noticing him. “You’re part elf,” she said softly, recognizing the subtle features that Finn had always just assumed were what made Kurt pretty. “I know that you must be a little bit traumatized but things do get better here. I’ll explain more to you tomorrow. I’m sure that you boys are both pretty exhausted. I have to go anyway.”

She turned around on her heel and walked away.

“Wait, what is she then?” Finn asked.

The question was lost on the air but he didn’t really care. His focus immediately turned to Kurt. His stepbrother obviously needed him. “I don’t get what’s going on,” Kurt breathed out, shaking his head from side to side and looking like he was going to cry. He sunk down onto the edge of one of the two twin beds and shook his head from side to side. Finn knew that losing his father had hurt Kurt so much and the way they had been treated only cemented the damage. Kurt sobbed, his shoulders shaking. “Finn, I really don’t get it at all but I just wanna sleep.”

Finn didn’t say anything. He just opened up the blankets on the bed Kurt was sitting at and moved his stepbrother over, laying him down. Kurt’s head touched the pillow and he looked so incredibly relieved. Finn hadn’t even begun to mentally process what was going on but at least he was able to focus on the fact that he was laying his little brother down to sleep. “I know it’s freaky and we would have never, ever done it before,” Kurt whispered, “but will you just lay down with me Finn? We can figure this all out when I don’t feel sick.”

“Of course,” Finn mumbled, crawling into the small bed next to his brother. He didn’t even realized how exhausted he was until he fell asleep holding Kurt close and listening to the steady breath coming from his brother.


	3. Chapter 3

When Kurt woke up, the first thing that he realized was that he was hungry. His stomach groaned, reminding him of the fact that he had not eaten in days. He turned around to be face to face with Finn’s much larger body. It was funny. Before he and Finn had been revealed to be part-nonhuman, he had always teased the other boy about his stature. It ended up that his stepbrother and the former object of his affection was a fourth Titan. Who would have thought?

“Finn,” he whispered. He didn’t really want to wake Finn, because he knew they hadn’t slept in a long time, but at the same time he was hungry and didn’t trust the place they were in enough to go anywhere without his stepbrother at his side.

Kurt knew that he was messed up, traumatized. He recognized the way that Finn looked at him, as though he had gone slightly off the deep end. Maybe he had, but at the same time it was because he had lost his father. All through his life, he had struggled to keep as close to his father as possible and in seconds, that bond was ripped away. He needed his daddy right now, more than he ever had and it was impossible. He was trying though, trying to be strong.

Finn opened his eyes, slowly. He yawned and stretched, looking around him confused. Kurt watched the memories of the previous night flood back into Finn’s eyes. “Are you okay?” he asked, the first thing out of his mouth concern for Kurt. Finn never failed to floor him with the way he behaved. It was a long cry from who he had been when they first met, before their parents came together, before they became brothers. “Kurt?”

Kurt nodded. “I’m fine Finn,” he whispered. He knew that he wasn’t but he could at least pretend to be. “I wanted to go downstairs and see if I could get food, but I don’t want to go alone. Should we get up and go see?”

Finn nodded. “Yeah,” he said, running a hand through his matted hair. “That’s a good idea Kurt.”

They got dressed quickly. Kurt was surprised to find that someone had left a couple of items of clothing in the closet. Some of them were ridiculously big. Kurt imagined that they didn’t know how much Titan blood Finn had. It was kind of funny, or it would have been if not for the situation. They got dressed and quickly headed down the stairs.

The first person they saw was a boy. He was short, with dark curly hair and what Kurt noticed to be pretty golden brown eyes. He looked at them and frowned a little bit. “Uh, hi,” Finn said, walking ahead of Kurt. The boy’s eyes darted around like he was scared.

“Rachel!” he called.

They were immediately joined by the pretty girl from before. “Oh thanks for letting me know they’re up, Blaine,” she said cheerfully. “Kurt, Finn, this is Blaine. He’s pretty new here himself. He’s really shy. Come on all three of you. I bet you must be hungry. Let’s go to the cafeteria.”

The cafeteria was huge. It reminded Kurt of the cafeteria at his high school, except for the fact that the tables weren’t made of that weird red plastic and there were plates in front of the teenagers rather than trays. There were two huge, long tables that went down the center of the room. “Sit here,” Rachel said, gesturing for the three boys to sit down at the table. “I’ll bring the food. Are any of you vegetarians? I’ve been vegan since I was a little girl and the cooks here make fantastic vegan dishes.”

They all shook their head. Rachel bounced off.

When Rachel returned, she was carrying two plates. She was shortly followed by another girl who also carried two, sitting them down in front of the boys. “This is Tina,” Rachel said. Kurt vaguely recognized the girl as someone they saw upon their arrival. She had wings. “She’s part fae as you guys can see. Tina, this is Finn and Kurt. They’re our new arrivals.”

“I saw them come in yesterday,” the girl said. “It’s nice to meet you two.”

She soon took off, over to an Asian boy with dark hair. “She and Mike are dating,” Rachel said. “It’s funny. He’s got vampire blood but it’s such a miniscule trace that he only drinks blood maybe once a month. He’s such a sweet, shy guy. I always had misconceptions about vampires.”

Kurt stared at her, but the food took precedent to any question he would ask the girl. He ate his food ravenously, getting so hungry. It had been so long since he’d really eaten solid food. Finn too ate hungrily. His metabolism was really high because of his lineage and Kurt knew that if he was suffering Finn was definitely suffering. They ate in silence for awhile before Finn finally asked Rachel the question that Kurt wanted to ask as well.

“What are you?”

Rachel smiled. “Siren,” she said. “I have two dads, you see. They didn’t know that the woman they hired to surrogate for them had siren blood.”

“What’s a siren?” Finn asked.

“Don’t you read?” Rachel teased. “Greek mythology has got it right, pretty much. Thankfully though, my blood is diluted enough that I’m not going to be sending any sailors to their deaths with my voice. I just have a lot of influence over people when they hear my singing.”

"That's...um interesting," Finn said.

Kurt finished the rest of his food in near silence. He noticed that the boy across from them, whom Rachel had called Blaine, was equally as quiet. He met the boy's eyes over the table and gave a tiny smile. Blaine seemed startled by that but smiled back at him. Kurt wondered what made him less than human.

"Let me show you around!" Rachel yelled in an almost grating tone of voice. Kurt winced. This girl was a siren? God, her singing voice must have been a lot more pleasant to hear. Kurt watched Finn and followed him, putting away their plates and following Rachel.

Rachel led them down a flight of stairs to the basement. Kurt still half expected to see implements of torture but instead he saw the door to what looked like a small sized movie theater. “This is the theater,” Rachel said with a small smile. “There are always really good movies available. I’m lucky that the Beiste and I have really similar taste in movies.”

“The what?” Finn asked.

Rachel smiled. “Shannon, the woman you met earlier,” she said. “She’s actually got a small amount of what she believes to be werewolf blood and well, her name is Shannon Beiste so she always has gone by the Beiste.” Rachel shrugged and lead them along a winding path. Kurt could hear some very hollow sounds. “There is a bowling alley down that way,” she said.

Rachel showed them a variety of amazing things. Kurt couldn’t help be impressed by the massive yard which contained among many things a full sized stable. It reminded him of when his mother used to take him to a horse ranch when he was a small child. He had been afraid of the animals, of course, but it was still a fond memory because his mother was there.

“It’s very nice,” Finn said, when Rachel concluded the tour back at the dormitories.

“Yes,” Kurt agreed. “It’s just…”

“What?” Rachel asked.

“A cage is a cage.”


	4. Chapter 4

"I actually agree with you Kurt," Rachel said seriously. Her expression darkened for a second and Finn could see something sad in her eyes. "I hate the fact that the only way we can stay safe and happy is to be locked in a cage. I also hate that I can't go live with the men who raised me until I was fifteen. I do have hope though."

"How?" Kurt asked. Finn hated that he seemed so desperate. He wanted to help Kurt so much but had no idea how. He turned his attention back to Rachel, because she seemed to have some of the answers that he lacked.

"Our choir is famous, world renown,” Rachel said, her eyes absolutely shining. Finn thought she was one of the most beautiful girls he’d ever seen in his life, even though he knew that train of thought was way out of place. He needed to focus on Kurt and helping Kurt out. “People have no idea that we're all a bunch of freaks. Come on Kurt, Finn, I'll show you something awesome."

Kurt and Finn hurried after the little fireball of a girl. She led them to a large double door. She pulled it open, revealing a room full of instruments, awards and CDs. There were glimmers of shimmery gold stars everywhere. Finn felt a little dizzy just looking at all of it. He had never heard of the choir before but evidently Kurt had, because he was staring at one of the records on the wall in awe. “I’ve heard of you guys…” he said. “I always knew that Schuester ran it but…”

"We've obtained actual fame, as far as choral music goes," she said in a bright tone. "It feels amazing to sing. Music makes it all worthwhile."

"I guess..." Kurt said.

"Do you sing?" Rachel asked, turning to grab Finn's arm. He recoiled in shock at that. "Everyone here is welcome to join the group."

"Kurt does," he managed. "He sang this Wicked song at our school assembly and it was awesome.”

"Yeah," Kurt grumbled. "I gave a flawless rendition of Defying Gravity only to be bullied by everyone and called a girl."

Rachel squealed. Like, literally squealed. "Let's sing it!" she yelled. "Defying Gravity is one of my all time favorites. Musicals like Wicked have gone out of fashion these days, promoting people who are different and all. It's always been one of my absolute favorites though. I used to imagine I was Elphaba. This is awesome!"

Finn watched in awe as a bearded man entered the room and sat at the piano. He started playing the song. Rachel started to sing, nudging Kurt, who looked confused.

Something has changed within me,   
something is not the same.  
I'm through with playing by the rules  
of someone else's game.

Finn gasped. His mouth hung open and he couldn't stop staring. Rachel's voice was beautiful. He had been confused by her nature at first, and what it truly meant, but now he got it. Her voice alone was enough to make his heart drop to the floor. He was absolutely going crazy and it was because of the voice of some girl.

Kurt smiled, somewhat drawn in to her voice too, it seemed. He was gay, so chances were his thoughts were nothing like Finn’s, but she seemed to warm even his discomfort. He joined her.

Too late for second-guessing,   
Too late to go back to sleep.  
It's time to trust my instincts,   
Close my eyes and leap.

Finn watched in complete awe as the duo hit it off perfectly through song. Kurt met Rachel’s eyes and as their voices mingled together, he was actually smiling. Kurt hadn’t smiled since the day they were taken. He was so happy to see him smile. He watched as Kurt and Rachel turned toward each other as they sang.

It's time to try  
defying gravity  
I think I'll try  
defying gravity  
Kiss me goodbye I'm  
defying gravity  
and you won't bring me down...

Finn was astonished by the bond between the two. He sat in stunned silence through their entire duet, letting Kurt enjoy the happiness and freedom that he seemed to get from singing. When they finished, Rachel actually leapt forward and pulled Kurt into her arms. She hugged him tightly. Finn found that slightly amusing because Kurt was definitely not the kind of person to enjoy being touched. “Kurt!” Rachel screamed, hugging him close, finally letting go when he struggled a little. “Kurt, you have one of the most amazing voices that I have ever heard.”

“You do too, Rachel,” Kurt said with a dazed tone of voice. “That was so fun. I haven’t sung anything in the longest time…”

Her smile was as infectious as her voice. “Well, then it’s going to be time for that to change,” she said, still holding his hand. “I have never heard anything quite like that, Kurt. Oh my god I am so excited.”

“That was really amazing,” Finn said, once the two had broken from their spell and glanced over at him. “You both sing so well and together…it’s perfect.”   
Kurt nodded, quickly sidestepping so that he was closer to Finn than Rachel. Apparently her overwhelming personality got to him. He also still seemed a little sad. “It makes me miss my dad,” he admitted quietly. “When I practiced Defying Gravity for that school thing Finn was talking about, he was always there for me. He was devastated when they took me and Finn from us. I hope he’s okay…He had some health problems and I just…I know Finn’s mom takes really good care of him…but…”

Kurt stammered through his words. Finn knew exactly what he was going through. He had seen firsthand how strong Kurt’s relationship with his father was. Rachel stood in front of them looking uncomfortable and unsure of how to handle the situation. Finn leaned over and wrapped both arms around Kurt, holding onto his little brother while he shivered and sobbed out the words.

“You can call him,” Rachel said softly. “I think Mr. Schue or the Beiste needs to talk to you first but you can call him. Also, you don’t have any super-obvious traits so you should be able to go see him once she makes out the schedules for this month’s visits.”

Kurt gasped out loud. “Really?”

Rachel nodded. Finn just kept holding onto Kurt, thinking about seeing his mother again. He had put Kurt’s pain in front of his own for so long because he needed to protect his brother, but oh god he wanted to see his mom.


	5. Chapter 5

Rachel took them to see Schuester again. Finn kept pretty close to Kurt still. He trusted that the location was safe but Kurt was still a top priority as far as he was concerned. Will looked at them confused for a moment but then realized what they wanted. "Oh, I can't believe I forgot to tell you guys about the phones," he said. "We have a phone that's been blocked by an associate of mine. Where it calls out cannot be traced by anyone. You are free to call home sparingly. You need to follow a few rules though."

"What?" Kurt blurted out.

"You absolutely cannot give any clues about this location," the man said firmly. "You'd be putting countless others at risk, as well as yourselves. You need to be brief. Inform your families that you're safe, fed, well taken care of. They cannot know any details but they can know you're safe. Let them know that we'll be making rounds so that all of our kids can visit..."

"We can?" Kurt whispered.

The man nodded, meeting Kurt's eyes. It seemed like he understood what Kurt was going through. Finn liked the man so far. Well, he had to be some kind of amazing for all the stuff he did, right? "I'll let you know as soon as possible when the next rounds are," he said sympathetically. It was very nice. "Do you two want to go make a call now? Rachel will take you to the phones."

Rachel smiled and nodded. "Sure thing," she said, "follow me guys."

When they arrived at the phones, Finn was surprised. Kurt froze up completely. "I can't," he said softly. "I really, really can't."

Rachel gave Kurt a long, lingering look and then glanced back at Finn. He gave her a gentle smile to assure her that he could handle it. “I’m going to go,” she said softly, mumbling under her breath. “I was supposed to go talk to Noah about our next concert anyway. I don’t want to intrude on a private moment…I’ll be back. I’m really easy to find and everything.”

“How can I do this Finn?” Kurt asked, the moment that Rachel left them. Unshed tears began to well up in the corners of his eyes and Finn wasn’t sure that he could handle Kurt crying. He was already feeling too fragile and he wasn’t sure if he could watch Kurt break down in that way. “How can I talk to my Dad after being ripped away from him in the way that we were?”

“I don’t know,” Finn said. He hated to admit it but he had started to resign himself to the fact that they’d never see their parents again. It was a horrible thing to just “get used to” but he figured that was probably a way to cope so that they didn’t lose their cool. It was a survival thing.

“You make the call first,” Kurt blurted out.

Finn nodded. He was absolutely terrified but he knew that if he didn’t, then they’d be staring at the phone together for hours to come. He picked up the phone and dialed the number that he remembered by heart. It was the number of their family home, the one their parents had been so proud to buy when they merged families. It was something that had been created before they’d begun to imagine their worlds would be torn apart. The phone rang three times, each ring seeming to Finn like it was longer than the last. Finally, there was a click.

“Hello?”

It was his mom. Finn opened up his mouth to speak but found that no words came out at first.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

Oh god, his mom sounded exhausted. He could always tell when she was tired, like when she used to take extra shifts to be able to pay for everything when he was growing up. “Mom,” he said softly. “This is Finn.” He swallowed. There was no way that he could cry in front of Kurt. Kurt had been so fragile and scared lately. Finn didn’t want to be the reason that his brother lost it.

The silence in between those words and anything from his mother was terrifying. She spoke in a small, frightened voice. “Finn,” she whispered. “You can’t be. It can’t be you.” Her crying broke him into pieces and he averted his eyes so that he wasn’t looking at Kurt. His mom was near hysterical, breathing and panting in between disjointed words that made no sense. “Finn…how…my Finn…who is this? Please, dear God, please don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying,” he said seriously. “I promise you that Mom. Kurt and I are safe.”

“How?” she whimpered. Finn knew that his mom knew his voice. She wouldn’t be able to mistake his voice for anything. “Finn, they told us that the man who bought you was going to…do these horrible things…I don’t understand! He said that you were as good as dead.”

Finn swallowed, trying to find his voice and keep up the courage to talk. Hearing his mom’s voice again made him want to just curl up in her arms. He missed her so much. Talking to her was tearing open the barely healed wounds in his chest and he just wanted her there with him. “Mom,” he said softly. “Just try and relax, breathe.” He had always taken such responsibility for his mom, at least before Burt came along. It had been the two of them against everything.

“I’m trying…Finn…” she sobbed.

“I know it’s hard to believe,” he said sincerely. God he knew how hard his words were to believe. “Kurt and I are safe. We’ve been taken to a place that is really safe. I can’t give you any details or there would be a lot of lives at risk but we’re safe. We’re going to get to come see you soon. It’s going to be okay…”

“We fought so hard Finn,” she breathed out. “Burt and I fought so hard but there was nothing we could do. They were rounding up special kids left and right and…”

“I know Mom,” he comforted as best as he could manage. “You need to know that we’re safe though. I don’t honestly know what’s going to happen in the future but you need to know that we’re one hundred percent safe. I have Kurt with me and I’m not going to let anything happen to him.”

He could hear a door slamming on the phone and his mother yelled. “Burt! Burt! Come here right now. The kids…Finn…on phone…”

“Where? How?” Burt asked. “Is Kurt…”

Finn knew that he had to give the phone to Kurt. “Mom, the guy who owns this place says that we can call as long as we don’t do it too much,” he said. “I’ll call back really soon. I just…I should give the phone over to Kurt right now. He needs his dad so much.” He felt tears forming and by the time he finished the sentence, he was crying. He had totally repressed his fears, anger and the way that he missed his mom in order to keep Kurt safe. Now that Kurt was safe, the emotions were coming off of him in a flood. “I love you Mom. K-Kurt should talk to Burt.” He pushed the phone into Kurt’s hands.

He knew that the moment was probably going to be a private one between Kurt and Burt, so he left the room. He found Rachel hanging just outside. “Noah was busy with Santana and Brittany,” she explained, looking pretty guilty. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to linger outside. Are you okay Finn?”

He shrugged, sniffling a little bit. He hated to think of anyone seeing him cry, especially this girl that he had barely met. “It was hard, talking to my mom,” he confessed. She could know that at least. “I just…I never imagined that I’d get to hear her voice again. I know that she’s doing okay now, which is great, but God, I miss her so much. It’s…really crazy. I had to leave so Kurt could talk to Burt and so he wouldn’t see me like this.”

The girl frowned, looked from side to side and then threw her arms around him in a very tender hug. “Oh Finn,” she said softly. “I was in a state of total mental breakdown the first day I called my dads. Mr. Schuester had just installed the phone and they were sure I was dead. It was one of the scariest things in the world but at the same time it was so worthwhile.”

He hugged her back and just kept her there. “How do you survive?” he asked Rachel, holding on. “How do you survive knowing they’re gone and you’re here?”

Rachel sniffled a little at his words, smiling sadly. “Well, music does help,” she said, “but I’m not going to lie to you Finn, sometimes it’s hard. You should try singing with us some time. I know that it’s probably not the first thing on your mind right now, but Kurt is definitely joining us, so you should too.”

"I understand," Finn said. "Not all of the kids here are in the choir, are they?"

"David and Blaine are hesitant," Rachel said, "but I'm hoping that soon every one of us will have the confidence and voice to be a part of the choir."

"I don't know if I can sing," Finn admitted. "I mean outside of showers, I can't sing, I don't sing. Would I really be good enough?"

"Only one way to see," she teased, a smile on her face that lit her up. "Do you know Don't Go Breaking My Heart?" she asked, skipping over to the piano and picking up some sheet music. She flipped through it and found what she was looking for. "Our pianist, Brad, can play and we can try it out.”

“Okay,” he said relenting. He tried not to feel the pain and instead focused on the girl.


	6. Chapter 6

Kurt swallowed deeply as he took the phone into his hand. “D-daddy,” he whispered. He had not called his father that since he was a small child but the word just slipped out of his mouth. All of the pain that had been caused by losing his father came rushing to the surface. He sat down because his vision was blurring uncomfortably. “Daddy, it’s me.”

His father did not speak for a moment. He could hear the sounds of his heavy breathing, choking and coughing. “Kurt?” he whispered in a raw, pained voice. “Kurt, is that really you? I don’t understand what’s going on at all.” Kurt winced when he heard tears. He knew very well that his father cried but actually hearing it hurt just as bad as it did when he was eight and his mother died.

“It’s me,” he assured his father gently. He found his voice when he realized how hurt his father was. He had always risen to the occasion for the man. “I’m alive and well. I don’t really understand it that much either but I am so happy to hear your voice.”

“Carole and I – we heard horrible things Kurt! We heard that the man who took you and Finn was a monster!”

“Finn and I heard it too,” Kurt said quickly, quietly. “We heard that we were dead men and we’d be better off killing ourselves.” He almost mentioned that he’d contemplated suicide but he stopped. His father could not know that he had been that weak and stupid. “When we got here, we expected to see torture racks or s-something like that. It’s a wonderful place. I c-can’t say much but it’s big. They’re protecting a lot of kids like Finn and me here.”

“The phones…” his father said. “How can you call? Aren’t all calls traced?”

“The man, Will, he said that this phone was rigged specially. I don’t know the specifics or how it works. All I knew was that I had to talk to you.”

“Kurt, I thought that you were dead. I wanted to die. I-I would have killed myself if it wasn’t for Carole. She kept me holding on. She kept telling me that I had to be strong and have faith, but what is there to have faith in when you’re not there with me? I don’t know Kurt, I don’t know.”

His father was hysterical. Kurt could hear it and tears flowed down his face freely. He closed his eyes but he was crying anyway. “Daddy you need to have faith,” he said softly. “Faith in me and faith in us, okay?”

“I need you here,” Burt said.

That was enough to send Kurt into sobs. He closed his eyes and tried his best to breathe. “I need you here with me too,” he whispered softly. “I’m sorry Dad. I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I’m scared. They said they’ll be making rounds and letting us visit home but I don’t know yet. Dad, I just need you to stay strong for me, okay?”

The phone call ended with Kurt sobbing. He hung up the phone and absolutely broke, allowing the sobs to come out. He held the side of the chair he was sitting in and just cried his eyes out. He could faintly hear the strains of a piano coming from a few rooms over but he ignored any and everything. He just missed his daddy and wanted to go home. That wasn't too much to ask.

"Kurt?"

He opened his eyes to see Blaine, the tiny boy from earlier, standing in front of him. He was hesitant and Kurt could tell he was afraid. "Blaine," he said softly, trying to stop crying. "Hi. I'm sorry. Did you need to come in? I just...I talked to my dad just now and it hurt...I'm okay though."

"It's okay," Blaine said. His voice was soothing. He knelt down by Kurt and took his hand. Kurt felt calmer at the contact. It was soft and soothing. "It must hurt to call home to family who loves and misses you. At least they have the assurance you're safe now, right?"

He nodded. "Right," he said.

The boy turned his head. "Man, that Rachel has a voice," he said, obviously having better hearing then Kurt. "I know it's in her blood but man..."

"Finn is totally over-the-moon," Kurt said teasing. He felt more at ease in Blaine's presence. He felt like he could think of things that were not part of his inevitable doom. "I can tell that he really likes her. It's cute."

"It feels weird talking comfortably about normal things, doesn’t it?" Blaine asked softly.

Kurt nodded but seconds later frowned. "Are you like a mind reading thing? I also felt so at ease around you..."

“I don’t exactly know what I am,” Blaine admitted, shaking his head from side to side. “I think that I have some kind of fairy blood, but it doesn’t line up with other fae here like Tina. I also have never had wings in my life. My family just found out that I was not-quite-normal when I started getting angry. My anger tends to have a lot of influence on the people around me. Someone saw and yeah, I’m gone. I don’t know if they tried to discover which of my parents gave it to me. I have a really strong influence on people’s emotions. No, I don’t read minds though. I could totally see it on your face. You’ve been living in fear since they took you away.”

Kurt nodded. “I have,” he admitted softly. He tried to take the conversation in a different direction, away from the discussion of fear and non-human blood. “Don’t feel bad about not knowing what you are either, Blaine. I’m part-elf, that I know but I know literally nothing about myself. I don’t know anything about my abilities; I don’t know any vulnerability I might have that is different than that of a normal human. I just don’t know…anything.”

Blaine looked awkward.

“So, this choir thing,” Kurt said, in another attempt to ease the tension. “Do you sing?”

Blaine sighed and looked out into the distance, smiling sadly. Kurt followed his shimmering eyes. "I love singing," he admitted out loud. "Before my blood status was found out and it all went to hell, I sang in the acapella choir at my all boy's school. It was overwhelming and exciting. I was the lead vocalist."

"Why don't you take Rachel's offer then?" he asked, curiously. "She seems like a nice girl, if not a little overbearing. It'd be a good chance to get out, be normal. I’m going to try it. She was over excited at the idea once I sang for her.”

"We'll never be normal again."

“Maybe not,” Kurt said softly, “but what’s there to do if we don’t try?”

“You’re right Kurt, you are,” Blaine muttered. “It’s just hard.”


	7. Chapter 7

Finn quickly began to see the benefits of living in Schuester’s home. Yes, he was still miserable about being taken from his home and he missed his mom so badly that it hurt, but at least he was safe from the persecution of non-human creatures and well, there was Rachel. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t falling for her, although he really did need to learn more about sirens, to make sure she wasn’t messing with his brain.

He was also starting to meet some of the other kids. One day, when he was outside, he discovered some basketball courts. He took to shooting some hoops alone, remembering how much he loved playing basketball after football season ended, when he was approached by a teenager with a Mohawk. “You’ve got a pretty good shot on you,” he said. “Of course, at your size I guess that’s not really that surprising. I don’t think we’ve talked before. I’m Puck.”

He sort of recognized him. Rachel had been fawning over him in Finn’s first days there, calling him “Noah.” He shrugged a little and tossed the ball to the other boy. “Finn,” he said.

“Rachel thinks you’re amazing,” Puck said, landing a basket immediately. Finn watched the ball move through the net and then caught it. “If I didn’t know better, I would say that she was definitely attracted to you. It’s funny. I always figured that girl was married to the choir.”

Finn’s heart did an awkward flipping thing as he realized Puck knew Rachel well. That meant that Rachel was probably as attracted to him as he was to her. It made his heart do a lot of weird things. He blushed as he thought about it. He made a shot that completely missed, which made Puck start laughing. “You’re so doomed, giant,” he said.

They played for awhile and Finn learned quite a bit about the other boy. His mother had been completely human but his father, who had taken off when he was about eight, had been a shapeshifter of some kind. Puck found out when he was eleven that he could turn into a large black dog at random. When he was taken in, Will Schuester had worked hard to teach him how to control his transformations, and now he could do them at will.

“Are there ways that I could find out what I do?” Finn asked Puck, holding onto the basketball, as they had become more interested in their conversation than the constantly moving ball. “I have no idea. My father died when I was a baby and my mother had no idea that he was Titan at all. I mean, I literally have no clue. My stepbrother Kurt doesn’t either. He’s part elf, I guess, and all he knows is that he’s fast, pretty and his hearing is good.”

“You guys are lost,” Puck agreed. “Beiste has a lot of resources for that kind of stuff. Also, I think that Quinn’s part elf, so maybe your little brother could chat her up.”

“Cool,” Finn said.

Puck nodded, tossing a glance to the inside of the house. “I have to take off,” he said. “I’ll see you sometime Finn. Here’s to hoping that you find the answers you’re looking for.”

“Yeah, thanks,” he muttered.

Finn wandered around the grounds for awhile, honestly marveling over it's size and the variety of things available to the kids. Finn wandered over to the horse stables for a second. He peeked in to see a beautiful brown and white horse in one of the stalls. He pet it lightly and then walked out behind the stable, to see several people riding on the long trails.

He backtracked and went back inside, not wanting to talk to anyone. He knew that he'd have to check out the many things inside the house, but at the moment he really didn't want to talk to anyone. He made his way up to the music room that Rachel had shown them. He opened the door.

He wasn't alone. Will Schuester stood in the middle of the room. He seemed to be completely lost in thought, although his thought process was broken by Finn's arrival. He looked at Finn and gave him a warm smile. "I'm so sorry," Finn blurted out. "I didn't know that anyone was in here. I'll go now. I don't wanna intrude..."

"Oh, it's not intruding at all," the man said, grabbing two chairs from a stack of them. Finn figured that was a cue for him to sit down so he sat gently. Schuester smiled at him. "I was just thinking about how far the choir has come since I started it."

"It's pretty amazing," Finn complemented. "I uh, sang with Rachel."

"Rachel Berry is fabulous," he responded quickly. "The allure of her voice is genetic but she's ambitious and throws herself into honing her gift. I admire that so much."

"Awesome," Finn said.

"Are you and your brother considering joining us?" he asked, sincerely. "Rachel reported to me quite gleefully that our new additions are talented young men with voices."

Finn felt his face turn a little redder at that. "I'd really like to," he said, "but I'm not sure I have a voice like Kurt or Rachel. I mean, you guys are pretty known right?"

"Yes, but..."

"Hey, how does nobody realize what the kids are and put two and two together?" he asked softly.

"We've put a lot of work into concealing their natures," he said.

"But I mean," Finn injected, "you take in a bunch of kids. People assume they're being murdered, tortured to death but don't they realize that your choir looks suspiciously like those kids?"

"You're smart Finn," Will said, making Finn break into a smile. Not that many people saw Finn as intelligent because he was pretty slow. "It's actually one of our own who makes that possible. Did you notice a man appear when you and Rachel sang?"

"Um, yeah," Finn said, remembering. "There was a man with a beard who showed up at random to play piano."

"Brad," Will said fondly. "He's a demigod. He descends from an ancient deity - we've spoken about it and he believes it's ... He's very skilled at appearing at random and doing magic. He puts our kids under a cloaking spell with the piano."

"Oh dude," Finn blurted. Things got weirder and weirder every single second. "That is cool. I'm glad you can let everyone perform."

"It raises the morale, keeps us funded and is truly fulfilling."

Finn studied the man seriously. He didn't understand him but he admired him. He was a nice guy who genuinely wanted to help a bunch of kids who were overwhelmed by new prejudices. "Why?" he asked aloud and then decided to go with the question. "Why do you do this? I mean, I just don't get it."

The man's eyes softened. "I don't have any great motivator," he admitted. "I just...how old are you Finn?"

"Seventeen."

"Then you at least understand how the world was before these prejudices clicked in place and slavery became allowed again. I mean, we're Americans. We still have read history books about how wrong enslaving people was when it involved skin color. How can we jump over to enslaving people with special blood?" Finn saw the passion in Will's eyes and smiled. He really did care. "I was just a schoolteacher, Finn. I taught Spanish. Shortly after I started seeing my students and colleagues taken away, I inherited a lot of money. I took Shannon, who coached football at our school and was terrified of being taken, and we began this.'

"How long ago?" Finn asked, fascinated.

"Two years," he said. "Rachel, Artie, Tina and Mercedes were our first four kids. Shannon does so much work to get more when we can. It's a small impact but it's all we can do now."

"Wow..." he mumbled. "This is all so overwhelming, you know? My dad died when I was a little kid. I didn't even know he had non-human blood in him."

"Titan, right?" he asked.

Finn nodded slowly.

"I'm not really up on Titans or anything but let me take you to the library. There are many pieces of information we've scoured from various sources. You should exhibit a high amount of physical strength though and have command over one or more elements. Want me to show you where it is?"

"Sure," Finn said, standing up while contemplating his words. He was pretty strong when he got pissed off. Elements? He wasn't quite sure what that meant. He followed will out the door. After a few minutes Will paused at a door.

“There’s the library,” he said. “Check it out. The kids keep it nice for me, so someone will be in there to help you out. I have to go. It was nice talking to you Finn.”   
“Thanks…”


	8. Chapter 8

When Finn walked into the library, he was absolutely shocked by its size. It was at least twice the size of the library at his high school and every wall was covered with a full sized bookshelf. He had never been the smartest guy and he had absolutely no idea where to start. He breathed deeply. He didn’t know what shelf to begin at. He walked over to one on the far left of the room and took out a book. Its title read: _Fairytales and Fairy-Kind._ He put it back on the shelf and then looked around him again. “How are these books even organized?” he asked out loud.

“Do you need some help?” He turned toward the pleasant voice to find himself face to face with a very pretty blonde girl with her hair pulled back. She had the most gorgeous eyes that Finn had ever seen. “I’m Quinn. You and your brother just came here, right? It’s nice to finally really get to talk to you.” She turned toward the bookshelves. “They aren’t really organized like most libraries. What are you looking for books on?”

He paused, still captivated by her eyes. She had the most beautiful eyes that he had ever seen. “I’m looking for information on titans,” he explained.

She led him to the other side of the room, continuing to speak while she browsed for him. “You’re part titan?” she asked casually.

“Yeah,” he said. “I guess my dad was, but I never knew him. He died when I was a little kid.”

She frowned at that. “I’m sorry for your loss,” she said, as she took several large volumes off of the shelf and handed them to him. “These should help you find some of what you’re looking for.” She smiled. “It must be kind of hard to not know anything about what you are.”

“Thank you,” he said and he found that her smile made him smile. He followed her to a table, where he set his books down.   
“Oh wait,” he said softly. “I was talking to Puck this morning and he said that you were part elf. I was wondering if you could tell me anything about elves. My stepbrother is part elf from his mother and he has no idea what he can do, really. It’s kind of scary, not knowing what you’re capable of and he’s just a little less clueless than I am.”

Quinn smiled at those words. “Oh,” she said, sitting down across from him. “Well, I have elf blood on my mother’s side. Part elves have some qualities and don’t have others. It varies. Personally, I am never sick and when I broke my leg in fourth grade, it healed in rapid time, so it seems I’ve inherited elven healing ability. I’m also really pretty fast and I have practiced magic, though Mr. Schuester is hesitant about allowing it. There are many different traits and characteristics. I’d love to talk to your brother sometime.”

“Please do,” Finn said. “It would help him a lot.”

Quinn nodded. “I definitely will Finn,” she said sweetly. “It was very nice of you to ask me on your brother’s behalf. He means a lot to you, doesn’t he?”

“He does,” Finn admitted. He couldn’t really express to her just how much his stepbrother meant to him. He met her eyes and blushed when he realized how intensely she was looking at him. “It’s funny. We weren’t even good friends until our parents started dating and later got married. He just sort of became everything to me really quickly. I felt this huge need to protect him, because he got a lot of crap at school. Not that he really needs it, he’s tough.”

Quinn smiled a little bit at that. “It must be really nice to have family with you,” she said. “It must make this whole thing a lot better. A lot less…difficult.”

“It does,” Finn agreed. “I mean, god, I miss my mom but at least Kurt’s here and I know that he’s safe, you know? I’m here and he’s here with me. It’s all good. “

“I agree,” she said, never letting go of his gaze. “I wish that I had family here. Of course, I’ve really begun to find family here. Mercedes, for example, pretty quickly became my best friend after I ended up here. I mean, honestly, the whole choir is pretty close. I think we much count as family.”

“Oh yeah, the choir,” he said. “I really want to join, eventually. I don’t think I’m good enough but Rachel says that I am so maybe I’ll take that risk.”

Quinn’s face changed a little at the mention of Rachel.

“Did I say something?” Finn asked.

“No,” Quinn said, with a fake pleasantness. “I’m just not our resident diva’s biggest fan, that’s all. I’d love to sing with you sometime Finn, if you want to at least. I bet you have a fantastic voice. A lot of singing is really having the confidence to do it. I can just tell you have a good voice.”

Finn blushed at the compliment. "Thank you," he said, hoping that the heat in his face wasn't totally obvious. "I would love to sing with you sometime Quinn."

He spent some time looking through the books Quinn gave him, but they were really confusing and he didn't want to seem stupid in front of her. “I’m going to go,” he said, feeling a little bit on the insecure side. “I haven’t really talked to Kurt today and I want to make sure he’s doing alright. I’ll see you later.”

The girl smiled sweetly. “See you later Finn.”

Finn left the library and returned to his room, relieved to find that Kurt was there. The other boy was relaxed and looked quite a bit happier. “Where have you been all day, Finn?” he asked curiously, looking up at Finn with eager eyes.

“Well,” he explained, “first I was just wandering, then I started talking to this guy Puck. He was pretty cool and we played a little bit of basketball. Then, I went up to that music room that Rachel took us to and ended up talking to Schuester.”

That perked up Kurt's interest. He looked at Finn expectantly, asking, "Well, what happened Finn? What did you guys talk about?" He lay back against the headboard of his bed. He looked tired but quite a bit more focused and less depressed. Finn was glad, eager to no longer have to worry about Kurt.

"We mostly talked about the choir and well, his motives in creating this place," he explained. "It kind of opened my eyes to a lot of things."

"What did he say?"

"He just told me about how he used to be a teacher and how he hated watching the country fall apart to all this slavery stuff. He and that Shannon woman, the Beiste, they came together with the money he inherited and did this."

Kurt nodded slowly. "That's admirable," he said with a nervous look. "I mean, it's hard for someone to stand up and do something when oppression is all over the place, violent oppression even. I mean, they could get arrested or killed for this."

Finn swallowed at the grave assessment. "He's a good guy," he said.

"It's nice to know there are some," Kurt muttered.

"Yep," Finn said, "he also told me some about discovering what we are. He showed me to a library that had lot of information."

Kurt's eyes opened wider. "Oh?"

Finn nodded. "I went there and got these books," he said. "I also met Quinn, who is part elf too. She told me some of her abilities. She heals really fast and is good at magic. She’s also fast. That kind of reminds me of you, right?”

Kurt nodded. “It does,” he said, getting a little closer to Finn and opening one of the books he held. “I have only been sick maybe once in my whole life. Let’s see what we can find in here about you, though.”


	9. Chapter 9

Reading with Finn for awhile, Kurt found out a lot of information about the creatures his brother was descended from. He wrote down what was really important, finding it all so interesting. It was strange. It seemed to Kurt that if the country hadn’t suddenly decided to persecute non-humans, Finn would have never found out that his long dead father was anything but human. He took notes, watching as Finn read too. He was so thankful for his brother, despite the differences they once had. “Finn?” he asked, gently.

“What?” Finn responded softly, looking at Kurt curiously. Kurt knew that some of the books confused Finn but he was trying his hardest.

“I just really wanted to say thank you, you know, for everything,” Kurt started. “Not only for being a pretty awesome brother, but also for being right here with me, through all of this, trying your best to keep me safe and from doing anything stupid. It means a lot to me Finn. I think that you and I are going to find out a lot about what makes us tick and well, I’m glad you kept me sane. I was starting to lose it for a little bit back there.”

Finn shook his head instantly. “Nah, Kurt,” he said. “You weren’t losing it. You were just scared.”

“Still,” Kurt mumbled, closing up the book. “I took some notes, check them out. I’m going to go see if I can find Blaine.”

Finn nodded and Kurt headed downstairs to see if he could find the other boy at all. There was something about Blaine that drew Kurt in. He was mysterious and quiet and well, they just seemed to connect well. Kurt couldn’t help want to know more about him. For awhile, Kurt honestly couldn’t find him, but he went downstairs to the bowling alley for the heck of it and found him lingering there. “Hi,” Kurt said, with brightness that for once wasn’t forced.

Blaine turned around and his smile reached his gorgeous eyes. Yes, the boy had perfect eyes. “Kurt,” he said warmly. “What are you doing here?”

Kurt shrugged. He didn’t exactly want to tell Blaine he’d been looking for him because, well, that sounded reasonably creepy. “I’m just wandering around a little bit,” he said quickly, trying to cover for his real intentions. “What are you doing down here?”

Blaine shrugged. “I got bored so I started looking around,” he said. “You know, seeing this place kind of reminds me of my first date. It was at the little bowling alley by my school.”

Kurt smiled at that. “Really?” he asked. “She must have been pretty lucky to be on a date with you.” He cursed inwardly at that. It was just about the lamest line he ever said in his life and it was obvious he was fishing to find out if Blaine had any interest in boys. It was so juvenile.

“It was actually a guy,” Blaine said quickly, giving Kurt just what he wanted. “I’m gay. I’m also not one hundred percent sure he was lucky.”

Kurt breathed out a sigh, trying to conceal how happy the fact that Blaine was gay made him. In a few days he had gone from mortal peril to having stupid crushes on adorable boys of mysterious origin. “I’m gay too,” he mumbled. “I’m also pretty sure that he was.”

“I dunno, my first date kinda sucked,” Blaine admitted.

“I never had one,” Kurt admitted.

There was a long moment that passed where Kurt was sure that he was the most awkward creature on the planet. He shook his head, absolutely embarrassed by how stupid he’d been. Blaine broke the silence by looking down and speaking “There are a lot of empty lanes,” he said suddenly. “Do you want to play?”

Kurt grinned. “Sure!”

They got a lane set up. Kurt really had no idea how to bowl properly; honestly, he couldn’t remember the last time he had gone, but it didn’t matter. He had been asked to hang out with a very attractive gay guy. It was interesting for Kurt, who had never really known any boy to be attracted to him. It was what he got growing up in a place like he did. “I’m really bad,” he warned Blaine, as Blaine set up the scorecard for Kurt to go first.

“Don’t worry about it,” Blaine said.

Kurt went up, rolling the ball awkwardly down the lane. It only ended up striking two of the ten pins. Kurt blushed furiously, but Blaine clapped all the same. “Go ahead,” he said, as Kurt moved to take another turn. He only knocked out another two.

“I’m sorry I suck,” Kurt said.

“You’re adorable,” Blaine said, taking his first turn. Blaine, on the other hand, was pretty good, quickly getting a spare on his first turn.

They played and kept score until Blaine had scored at least triple what Kurt did. Then, bowling started to turn into learning more about one another. “So, what kind of school did you go to?” Blaine asked, lounging on one of the seats. Kurt sat down next to him.

“It was called McKinley High School,” Kurt said. He couldn’t help the face he made at the mention of school. Even after all he had been through, he couldn’t forget the fact that high school had literally been a hell for him. “I really hated it, honestly. I mean, it could have been a good place, but bullying really went unchecked and I got pushed around a lot for being gay. I liked singing in the choir though, that was kind of nice.”

Blaine looked encouraged to speak. “I’m so glad that when my bullying got too bad I was sent to Dalton. It was an all-boys’ private school. It was a little bit rigid and some of the boys there were so sheltered but at the same time it had no bullying at all.”

“Must’ve been nice,” Kurt mumbled.

Blaine nodded.

“But you miss singing now, right?” Kurt asked, looking at Blaine. “You mentioned that you loved singing with the choir there.”

Blaine nodded again and then met Kurt’s eyes. “I really, really miss it,” he admitted. “It was such an empowering thing for me.”

“I’d love to sing with you sometime.” Kurt blushed as he just blurted those words out. Oh god, sometimes he could be absolutely pathetic. “It’d, um, be fun.”

Blaine nodded enthusiastically, so at least he didn’t sound pathetic.

“Uh hey,” Blaine said. “Since we’re not bowling anymore, do you want to get out of here?”

Blaine walked Kurt back outside. That was when they came upon two boys who were in the middle of some kind of altercation. “You do not use words like that,” said a blonde boy, shoving into a much larger one. The blonde boy had visible wings, but they weren’t like the fae girl that Kurt had seen before. They were much larger and folded around his back. He punched the bigger boy square in the jaw and that was when Kurt rushed to get between them. Blaine held back.

“What the hell is going on?” Kurt asked, yelling the words out just as the large boy, who had to be some kind of giant, lunged at the blonde.

“Fucking fag!” he yelled out. Kurt winced at the familiar slur. The two boys rolled around on the ground, throwing punches. Kurt saw blood. He took a deep breath and yanked the smaller of the two out from underneath the larger.   
“What the hell is going on here? Karofsky, Evans, off now!”

Kurt turned around, falling back and stumbling onto the ground. The large, intimidating woman who had been his introduction to this place put herself between the boys and yanked the big one back. He glowered, his eyes dark and full of agony. “What the hell is going on?” the woman asked, barking out the words. The boy with wings looked at her sheepishly.

“He called me a fag,” he said softly.

“I do not want to hear that language from you again Karofsky,” she said firmly. “Get up to your room. Evans, you’re bleeding. You need to go get the first aid kit. If that wrist is twisted, come back to me. I am not going to take fighting from any of you kids.”

Kurt looked at Evans, feeling a surprising amount of sympathy for him. He too was triggered by that godawful word. “I’ll help you clean up,” he told Evans. “Blaine and I were just coming upstairs.” That was when he turned his attention back to Blaine. The other boy was standing there, looking terrified. “You alright Blaine?” he asked, looking at the boy. He seemed lost.

“Yeah,” he said softly. “Fighting just totally gets to me. Do you want me to come help you clean up?”

Kurt shook his head, looking down at his hand. His palm was bleeding from an open scrape where he’d hit the ground. He could tell violence really got Blaine, so he didn’t want to bother him. “I’m going to help, uh…”

“Sam,” the boy said softly. “Thanks. I’m such a clutz I’d probably make a mess of things.”

“I’m Kurt. I’ll help you out.”

Kurt took Sam up to the bathroom, where they found a first aid kit, and then took him back to what Sam told him was his room. Kurt opened up the first aid kit and washed off the cut where Sam was bleeding from the fight. The boy winced. “It’s not that bad of a gash,” Kurt said comfortingly. “Your wrist is kind of twisted though. You may want to go back downstairs and see if you can get it bound up. That was an awful fight but I get why you did that.”

Sam looked up at Kurt and smiled. "It's really okay," he said gently, shaking his head. "I really just can't stand when people use that kind of language. I shouldn't have gone off at Dave really. He's been very quiet and angry since he got here and God knows we're all a little tormented. I just let things get out of hand."

"It's not a problem Sam," Kurt said, groaning. He lifted his hand to see where he'd scraped it, tumbling. It was warm, a heat radiating through it. He frowned for a minute and thought about it. It felt good. He impulsively touched his hand to Sam's twisted wrist.

"What the hell?" Sam asked. He looked up at Kurt and frowned. "Your hand is really hot and..." Sam looked at Kurt with wide eyed wonderment and then twisted his wrist. “Oh my God, Kurt, what are you doing?” Kurt shook his head, honestly having no idea at all. It had been an impulsive choice and it was undoubtedly gross considering that he was bleeding, but that weird feeling had just inspired him. Quinn had told Finn that there was some kind of healing property to elves, so maybe it was in their blood.

“My wrist doesn’t hurt anymore; it doesn’t hurt at all Kurt. What did you just do?”

He shook his head. “I have no idea.”


	10. Chapter 10

After discovering the healing properties in his blood, Kurt quickly began working through his powers and abilities. He discovered several things but, as far as the big picture went, he also hit a lot of snags and dead ends. He was honestly a little scared at the idea of having important abilities, powers even. He was just Kurt Hummel, after all. He wasn’t supposed to have any advanced magical abilities. It seemed way too out of this world.

Finn didn’t really understand his fears over his abilities, as much as he tried, but Blaine was a big help. “Don’t worry about it Kurt,” he said, sitting up in the room with Kurt. “I understand why you’re scared. Having abilities like healing…that’s a huge deal. I do have faith in you though. If you have such incredible abilities then it must be for a reason, right? Also, if you know what you’re capable of, you’ll find the ways in which it can be um, useful and helpful.”

Kurt smiled at that. “Thanks Blaine,” he mumbled.

“I’m a little jealous,” Blaine confessed, with a smile of his own. “I wish I had figured more out about my abilities then: things go bad when I get pissed off. I know I will one day though and you’re pretty much my encouragement to keep exploring.”

“I’m sure there’s a lot more to you than you know too Blaine,” Kurt said quietly, absolutely finding himself lost in Blaine’s eyes. He had to admit that he had a crush on Blaine, as silly as it seemed. It was silly, but of course, it was only natural. Blaine was one of the first gay boys that Kurt had ever met face to face and was also tender, sweet and had taken an interest in Kurt. Just staring into his eyes made Kurt a little lightheaded and excitable. “We’ll work on figuring it out as soon as we can.”

“Okay.”

Blaine smiled, Kurt blushed, and they both averted their eyes.

“I heard a little more from that Dave guy, you know,” Blaine said, changing the subject abruptly. “The erm, big one who was fighting with Sam the other day.”

Kurt blinked at the sudden change of subject but went with it. “What did you hear?” he asked curiously.

“I think he’s closeted,” Blaine explained bluntly.

Kurt blinked at that assessment. He didn’t know anything about the larger boy except for the fact that he was bigger than most of the kids in the house (possibly part giant), aggressive and had used the word “fag” which didn’t give him a lot of points in Kurt’s book. How on earth had Blaine come to the conclusion that the other teenager might be in the closet? “Why do you think that?” he voiced.

“Well honestly,” Blaine admitted, rubbing a hand through the back of his hair, “I used to be in the closet. I used to be in the closet so deep that I’m pretty sure there was a magical land in my wardrobe. I recognize a lot of the signs. He violently asserts his sexuality to the other people here, even when he’s not prompted to and well, fag is the choice insult. It’s just a theory anyway. I need more evidence to support that.”

Kurt shrugged. “Could be possible,” he said yawning.

“We should talk to him sometime,” Blaine said. “It would be nice for him to know that there are two other gay people living in this house, right?”

Kurt looked at Blaine and raised his eyebrow. That was definitely not the best idea, but he just nodded, considering the fact that they really couldn’t confront some kid about being gay on a whim that he might be hiding something. He got up. “Let’s go downstairs for a bit,” he said, leading Blaine out of his room.

When they headed downstairs, they heard music. They followed it to find Rachel singing enthusiastically. Finn was sitting among the other listeners, looking as though he were on the verge of falling out of his seat. “He’s a little taken in by her,” Kurt said, gesturing to his stepbrother. This made Blaine laugh.

Kurt listened to Rachel sing, his heart pounding in his chest. He had to admit that the slightly grating girl had one of the most beautiful voices that he had ever heard in his life. She kind of choked him up. Blaine, by his side, seemed to feel the effects of her voice just as strongly. He kept his eyes locked on Rachel.

When the performance ended, all of the onlookers clapped. Finn stood up, looking like a big dork, but adorable all the same. “That was brilliant Rachel,” Kurt said, shaking his head from side to side. It really was. The girl had a gift that went far beyond anything that was natural, but at the same time it was obvious that she had spent a lot of time honing her skills and becoming the talent she was.

“Kurt’s right Rachel,” Finn said, with that same dumbstruck look on his face. “You have the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard.”

“Look,” Blaine said, coming up from behind Kurt. He was gesturing over to Dave, who was watching Rachel with a slight scowl on his face. “Maybe we should go talk to him. I know we can’t call him out yet or anything, not without any proof, but maybe we could at least let him know that he’s not alone and that we’re not angry about what he said the other day with Sam. Would that be a good idea?”

“I guess.”

They carefully walked over, approaching the boy. “What do you want?” he barked, ripping his eyes away from Rachel and staring them down.

“We just wanted to say that we hope things are all forgiven from the other night,” Kurt said, being as diplomatic as possible. “We know that sometimes things are said in anger and you didn’t mean anything against gay people. Being that Blaine and I are both gay, we figured that we’d tell you that.”

The boy stood up. Damn, he was really big. Kurt held his breath for a second. “Is that so?” he asked. “A couple of fags offended because I called Evans a fag? Do you think that even bothers me for half a second?”

Kurt bit his tongue over the insult.

“Just so you know,” Blaine said, stepping in between Kurt and the bigger boy, “you’re not alone. If you need a friend, Kurt and I will always be around to talk to. We don’t hold grudges and we’re both willing to be good friends.”

“You both are crazy.”

“It’s not easy being different,” Blaine said gently. “This place is sort a testament to that, but we’re never alone.”

Kurt practically groaned at how obvious Blaine was being, but stopped short of his groan when the big boy shoved into Blaine. “What the hell are you trying to imply, fairy boy?” he asked gruffly, practically growling out the words. “I have nothing to say to either of you. I’m not like you freaks.”

Kurt glared at Blaine and then got between them. “This is a place for freaks,” he told Dave with a slight laugh. “Haven’t you noticed? Come on Blaine, let’s get out of here.” He took Blaine aside before an altercation could be started.

 

Meanwhile, Finn couldn’t stop heaping praises on Rachel. He knew he sounded ridiculous but he was a little bit head-over-heels. She seemed to really enjoy the praise though, smiling and shaking her head, but all the same accepting his words. “Thank you Finn,” she said. “I really love performing. Every chance I have is one for me to really sing and perform for someone else. I was lucky that there were so many onlookers today.”

Finn nodded. “Everyone was really caught up in listening to you sing,” he said honestly. “They love what you do.”

“How can they not?” said a voice and Finn turned around to see Will behind them. The man smiled and put a hand on both of their shoulders. “Rachel, Finn, I was thinking. We need some fresh music for our concert next month and I want to do a medley of Journey songs. Now Finn, I haven’t heard you sing yet, but I think you and Rachel should duet on the lead. She’s obviously taken with you and we need some fresh sound…”

“Journey?” Finn asked, concealing a smile. It reminded him of one of his mom’s old boyfriends. He wrinkled his nose at it.   
“Really Mr. Schue?” Rachel asked, giving the same half eye-roll. “Well Finn and I could perform well on any type of music, so that’s a great idea. We’d love to come down and practice tonight.”

“Tonight’s no good, but tomorrow at 7, Brad and I will be down there.”

“Alright,” Finn said, looking at Rachel. After the man left, at the same time, they burst out laughing. “I guess that means we’re duet partners for real this time.”


	11. Chapter 11

Finn and Rachel went out onto the field for a date.

They gathered some food from the kitchen and a blanket from Rachel’s room and turned it into a bit of a makeshift picnic. It was pretty genius in Finn’s humble opinion. “This is really sweet of you,” Rachel said with a grin, looking around them. She seemed almost in disbelief, like nobody else had ever done that for her. It surprised Finn, because he was more than a little bit infatuated with her.

“I really just want to spend more time with you,” he said honestly, finding it hard to be anything but honest in their situation. He laid out the blanket for her, putting the basket of food on top of it to keep it from blowing away. “I really like you Rachel. I know that this is probably a really bad time to think about things like this but I can’t exactly help myself.”

“Really?” she asked with the same wide eyed wonderment. “Though I knew we had explosive chemistry, Finn, I had no idea that you felt the same way I did.”

Impulsively, Finn leaned over and pressed his lips to Rachel’s. He kissed her slowly and gently. It wasn’t his first kiss or anything but it felt special, gentle. Finn’s lips brushed against Rachel’s and he honestly felt dizzy. She was way too perfect. He pulled away from the girl when he felt the kiss should be through, looking into her eyes. They were deep brown and looked a little wet, like she wanted to cry. He hoped it was those happy tears that girls sometimes cried.

“Finn,” she whispered softly.

He blushed. “I hope that wasn’t out of line,” he said.

She shook her head quickly. “No,” she said softly, taking his hand. “It’s just that nobody’s ever kissed me before. That really means a lot to me.” He could practically see the stars in her eyes as she stared at him. She was one of the most beautiful girls that he had ever seen and she seemed so happy. He felt pretty honored realizing that he was the one to make her feel that way. It was awesome.

The rest of their picnic wasn’t quite as eventful, but that didn’t make it any less special. They started talking about their families after awhile. “Well, it was just my mom and I for almost my whole life,” Finn told Rachel. “My dad was in the army and died when I was just a baby.”

“That’s so sad,” Rachel said, frowning at his words. “Your mom was really, really brave though. Today’s society has no idea about the sacrifices that single parents make for their children. I bet you learned a lot about your wonderful character from her, am I right?”

He smiled. “Well, yes,” he said. He hoped that he took a lot from his mom because he admired her so much. “Of course, last year my mom got remarried to Kurt’s dad. He’s a really amazing guy and was like a father to me. I really, really miss him.”

“You and Kurt seem to have a good relationship,” Rachel said. Yes, she was changing the subject but Finn understood why. It wasn’t because she didn’t want to talk about the sad stuff; she wanted to keep the mood positive during such a great moment between them. “Was it always that way?”

Finn shook his head. “No, not really,” he admitted. “I wasn’t the greatest guy up until last year. I mean, I was okay, but I used to have a lot of issues with popularity and fitting in. Kurt and I were in different worlds. I’m glad that we started to come together.”

Rachel smiled, nudging his shoulder. “He’s sweet,” she said. “I like him a lot.”

“I do too,” Finn said. “I worry a little bit about him though, because of all he’s been put through. Well, what about you Rachel?”

She smiled brightly at him. “Well, I was raised by my two dads,” she said. “I was born by a surrogate, which well, sort of ended up being a problem. Things were okay for us. I was in a lot of theater, ballet, singing lessons as a kid. Mr. Schuester let me tell my dads the secret of the choir during my last visit though, which means so much to me. They’ve always wanted me to succeed and they’re very proud of me.”

“That’s great,” Finn said softly. He felt so badly for all of these parents who had suddenly lost their kids. “So, they had no idea that the surrogate woman wasn’t all human?” he asked curiously.

She shook her head.

“Sometimes I worry about Shelby. I barely knew her, actually, but still, the fate of magical creatures in this world is often grim. She was a nice woman. I hope that she has a safe place or something right now. It’s a tough world.”   
“We’re lucky to be here,” Finn said.

Rachel nodded, seriously. “We are,” she said. “The singing absolutely gets me through as well. I think that it does the same for all of us.”

Finn nodded in agreement. There were a lot of kids living in Will Schuester’s manor. They were all unique with different powers and abilities as well as different back stories. They were lucky kids. That reminded him of something. “Oh Rachel,” he said, “that reminds me of something. The other day, I went to the library and talked to this girl, Quinn. She really didn’t seem to uh, like you at all. Do you know why she doesn’t?” He really liked Quinn and couldn’t imagine why anyone would dislike Rachel.

Rachel paused. “Quinn and I have always had a sort of animosity,” she said, shrugging. “I suppose it is just a personality clash. She is a very pretty, skilled, ambitious young woman. Unfortunately, she is also a pretty big bully who has been knocked down a peg or six by being driven out of her home and the world she was accustomed to.”

“Oh,” he said, not really getting it at all. He didn’t get girls that well.

Finn and Rachel stayed together for the rest of the afternoon, until Rachel had to leave. He packed up the things that he’d brought and gave her back the blanket before heading up to his room to visit with Kurt. Kurt was sitting on his bed reading one of the books from the library.

“Oh hello Finn,” he said, a slight teasing in his voice. “How did the date with Rachel go?” Finn absolutely smiled when he saw that Kurt was smiling. After seeing the depression that his brother had sunk into during their capture, seeing his happiness was worth it.

“It was great,” he said softly, finding himself surprisingly shy. “We had a lot of fun. She’s really good to talk to.”

“I noticed she likes to talk a lot,” Kurt said, closing the book and putting it on the bedside table. “Did you kiss her?” Finn looked up, blinking at Kurt’s words. He had never really expected his stepbrother to be the blunt type, but there he was, looking at Kurt with the most expectant eyes possible.

Finn nodded. “I did,” he said. “She said that it was her first kiss.”

Kurt clasped a hand over his chest in exaggerated glee. “Oh that is the most romantic thing in the whole world Finn,” he said brightly, with a smile that lit up Finn’s heart. “You better be good to that girl. A first kiss is a really, really big deal to most people and Rachel seems like the type who’d hold it close to her.” Finn had never really thought about it that way but Kurt was right. It was important. “Who was your first kiss with?” Kurt asked while he was daydreaming.

Finn blinked. “Oh, this girl in my Freshman English class,” he said laughing. “Her name was Jasmine.”

“I think I remember her,” Kurt said softly. “Was it nice?”

“Nice, but not magical,” Finn said shrugging. “I think kissing Rachel was a lot nicer. Have you ever?” He paused at the words, knowing that Kurt probably hadn’t. He always put his foot in his mouth. Kurt was an openly gay kid in a small town that was not exactly known for being open.

Kurt shook his head a little. “No,” he said. “I haven’t had that opportunity yet, but it’ll come when the time arises. I’m only seventeen Finn. I also now have a slight bit of hope that a certain young man might be the one.” He sighed in a dreamy way and Finn could swear that he was turning red. “Do you think that maybe one day Blaine would kiss me? I know it’s kind of silly to think but I’m really getting attracted to him.”

Finn blinked. He hadn’t really thought about Blaine, the guy Kurt spent all his time with. He blinked again when it hit him that there was obviously something between them. God, he could be so clueless sometimes. “Of course,” he said. “Any guy who’s gay would be crazy not to be in love with you. “


	12. Chapter 12

Kurt smiled. Finn’s words were sweet but he honestly didn’t take them seriously. He wasn’t anything special and just because a guy was gay didn’t mean that he’d want to be with Kurt of all people. Kurt knew just how unlikely that was. “Thanks Finn,” he said. “I really like Blaine, but I’m not exactly sure that anything will come of it. It doesn’t matter though, because making new friends is really making this less horrible and well, he’s sweet.”

He watched as a look crossed his stepbrother’s face. “Good,” Finn said gently. “I’m glad that there’s someone else who can really be there for you.” Kurt sensed the slightest bit of jealousy in his stepbrother and that made him smile. Finn had been there for him so much since their capture. He needed a break from his protectiveness.

“I have lots of people like that. I’m pretty blessed.”

“I can’t wait to go practice singing with the choir,” Finn admitted, sitting on the floor. “I think it’ll be awesome.”

“Me too, Finn.”

Kurt and Finn went into the choir room during the practice time. It was interesting to Kurt to see all of the different kinds of kids who were involved in the project. A bright girl with similar features to his own flounced over to Finn and smiled. “Hi Finn,” she said and he could definitely detect an air of flirtation in her voice. “I’m really glad that you decided to join us. This must be the stepbrother that I’ve heard so much about. Hi Kurt, I’m Quinn.”

He shook the girl’s delicate hand. “Hi Quinn,” he said. “You’re the one who taught Finn a little about elves right? I appreciate that a lot. I’ve learned quite a bit about my blood’s properties since then.”

She smiled. “Oh do you heal by blood?” she asked. “I’ve heard that some can do that.”

He nodded. That was when Rachel came over and wrapped her arm around Finn’s waist. Kurt hoped that there wasn’t a love triangle in the works because on top of their problems, that was the last thing that they needed. He noticed a kid with a Mohawk looking at Finn and Quinn too. Oh dear lord, maybe it was a love square!

He was sad to realize that Blaine wasn’t there, but focused himself on looking at the strange characteristics of the kids in the room. There was a Latina girl in the corner with a slight purple hue to her skin and tangled hair, who was all but hanging on a blonde with a strangely catlike nature to her. He turned around and saw Mike the vampire and Tina, who was apparently his fairy girlfriend. He saw Sam and waved.

Will Schuester entered shortly, smiling directly at them. “I’m glad to see that we have some new recruits,” he said with cheerfulness that Kurt found a bit irritating but endearing all the same. “Let’s work through this new group number. Here, take this sheet music.” He handed the music to all of the members of the group. “There is going to be a show in two weeks and we really have to start preparing.”

“Shouldn’t we have started preparing weeks ago then?” Quinn mumbled low, but Kurt caught it.

Practicing with the group was really enjoyable for Kurt. He got lost in the choreography, the singing and the gorgeous voices of everyone in the choir. “You’re really good Kurt,” Mike complimented, flashing a grin. He was the one who was pretty much in charge of the group’s choreography, so Kurt felt really good about himself. He had never considered himself much of a dancer but he could at least hold his own. Finn, on the other hand, was probably going to give the young vampire a headache.

Kurt realized that for the first time in a long time he was actually happy.  
After the rehearsal was over, Kurt’s first instinct told him to go find Blaine. He found the boy easily, sitting outside. “Hey Blaine,” he said. “Finn and I just got out of rehearsal for the choir. I thought you were going to come.”

“I never said that I was going to come,” Blaine said darkly, but even with the darkness in his voice gave Kurt a light smile. “I just said that I used to enjoy singing and that I miss it. I’m not sure that I’m ready to throw myself into that whole group dynamic.”

Kurt put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. Blaine let in a slow, shuddering breath. Kurt could tell that he was sad but he honestly wasn’t sure what to do. “Blaine?” he asked softly, rubbing his hand there lightly. “Is there anything that I can do?

Blaine shook his head, sniffling. “It just hurts I guess,” he said. “I want to go back to Dalton so freaking badly Kurt. I just want to go back to my friends at Dalton and being in control of the situation. I just want to be me.”

Kurt wasn’t sure what was going on but the next thing he knew his arms were wrapped around Blaine and the shorter boy was leaning into his shoulder. He sniffled low. “Kurt,” he breathed out. “I’m sorry. I’m just so tired you know? I’m tired and trying to keep my emotions in check because if I get angry somebody’s going to get hurt or something.” Kurt didn’t know a thing about Blaine’s abilities but at the same time he could feel the emotion coming off of the other boy in waves. He had powerful emotions. Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine and hugged him, despite his aversion to contact.

“It’s okay Blaine.”

“It’s not really,” he said apologetically. He looked up at Kurt and slowly let go of him. “I’ve kind of been a brat about everything. I’m just exhausted by being forced to, you know, live this life. We’re all trying to act normal, but we’re not.”

Kurt nodded a little bit. Blaine was right. As much as they tried to act like normal teenagers, not one of them was. “Do you want to try singing with me maybe?” he asked. “That has sort of been my ultimate distraction and if it was really as big of a part of your life as you say, then maybe it can do you some good? I don’t know I mean. I know that you don’t want to be reminded of your life before this or anything, which makes sense.”

“I’ll try.”

“Let’s go up to the music room.”

When Brad appeared, Kurt nearly launched himself into Blaine’s arms. Alright, that was dramatic but he would never be entirely used to a demigod living under the same roof as he did. Seriously, the guy was powerful and it seemed like every time someone wanted to make a little music, bam he was there. He also didn’t talk, which was creepy as hell. “Uh hey,” Kurt mumbled. Blaine looked just as awkward.

Brad opened up the sheet music on the piano and gestured with his head to it. Blaine walked over and looked. “Are you saying that I should sing this?” he asked. “Isn’t that um, a little cheesy? Uh Okay.”

Blaine seemed so nervous. Kurt quickly learned that the song Brad picked out was Elton John’s “Your Song.” It was freaking perfect. Kurt’s eyes lit up and he was pretty sure they were bugging out of his head when Blaine started singing. Kurt was pretty sure that demigod Brad’s plans included Kurt dying and falling madly in love. He stared at Blaine with wide eyes. This boy was going to kill him.

 _And you can tell everybody this is your song  
It may be quite simple but now that it's done  
I hope you don't mind…  
that I put down in words  
How wonderful life is while you're in the world_

Kurt exhaled after Blaine finished, realizing that he had held his breath the whole time. He tried to stop himself from acting like a schoolgirl with a crush, but that was difficult when Blaine gave him a sheepish smile and asked, “So?”

“I feel like Nicole Kidman,” he mumbled under his breath. Blaine actually heard it, if his blush was any indication, so Kurt quickly continued. “Seriously, Blaine, that was the most amazing thing that I have ever heard. You have a fantastic voice. It’s no wonder you sang lead vocals back at home. You’re so good, you’re…wow…”

Blaine laughed and rolled his eyes. “So not true,” he said softly. “I just get into stuff when I sing.”

“I could tell,” Kurt said, practically stammering out his words. Blaine’s eyes had glossed over when he started singing, he had stared at a spot above Kurt’s head before finally forcing himself to look Kurt in the eyes. It was the most romantic thing in the world and Kurt had never been more crazy for a boy. Oh dear God, it was bad.


	13. Chapter 13

"Are you going to sing for me now?"

Kurt's face turned red when Blaine spoke. He shrugged a little. "If you want me to," he said. "You know, the whole purpose of coming here was to let you sing and um, really get it out." He couldn't believe that a boy was powerful enough to get him stammering like a total idiot. What was his problem? He had crushes before but they never really felt anything like this. This was extreme and Kurt wasn't even sure that he could find his voice.

"I really do," Blaine said tenderly.

"Okay, uh how about Don't Cry For Me Argentina?" Kurt said. No sooner did he say the words then did Brad have it prepared. "You're kind of scary; did you know that?" The man nodded and Kurt noticed that he had a slight smirk on his face. He was kind of scary honestly, the music sounding more like a full orchestra than something that came from a pianist.

 _It won't be easy; you'll think it strange  
when I try to explain how I feel  
that I still need your love after all that I've done_

Kurt met Blaine's eyes and watched as the other boy grinned. He seemed captivated. Kurt let the music flow through him, thinking of all the theater greats who sang the words before him.

 _Have I said too much?  
There's nothing more I can think of to say to you.  
But all you have to do is look at me to know  
that every word is true_

After he finished, Kurt stared at Blaine. Blaine clapped enthusiastically. It looked like he had tears in his eyes. "Oh man Kurt," he whispered. "Nobody I knew at Dalton ever sang like that. You have a gift. It's incredible. I don't even know what to say."

"A gift?" Kurt asked, shuddering as Brad seemed to vanish into thin air. God, he was frightening at times. "I don't know about that."

"Well I do," Blaine said, staring at him like a puppy dog who had just found his favorite toy. "You're amazing. I'm definitely impressed."

Kurt laughed, reaching over and taking Blaine's hand impulsively. Blaine clutched it back, instantly. "Let's go for a little walk," he said, dragging Blaine out of the room. The house was pretty quiet. Kurt had to admit he latched onto Blaine easily, but it wasn't like that was always a bad thing. It felt good.

Thunk.

Kurt blinked as he heard a loud crash. He and Blaine both stopped instantly in the middle of the rooms. "You think someone's hurt?" Blaine asked, giving Kurt a curious look. Kurt shrugged because, honestly, how could he know? He listened intently and heard it again. It was loud, violent and coming from the third room down.

He approached it and knocked. "Okay in there?" he asked awkwardly.

"Fuckin' ah. Get out."

Kurt opened the door and once again he and Blaine were face to face with Dave Karofsky. Behind him, he could see the room was a mess, furniture tossed around and broken. The young man was infuriated at the sight of them.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Who are you to just burst into my bedroom? Isn't there some kind of privacy in this fucking freak show?"

He looked frustrated and on the verge of tears. It inspired Kurt's sympathies. "What happened?" he asked gently.

"Get out!"

Kurt sighed. This was going to become a recurring thing, wasn't it? "I'm going to go," he said, taking Blaine by the hand, "but once again, I want to remind you that you're not alone. There are people in this house who know exactly what you're going through in all respects."

He walked out, marching with Blaine. "I have never seen anyone with so much anger," Blaine said, a tender look filling his eyes. It made Kurt smile. He had to agree. He had never seen anyone else with so much anger. It was an anger that didn't come from simple emotions. This Dave Karofsky was an intense, conflicted and emotional character. There was a lot to the pain that he was in.

-

Meanwhile, Finn was learning that he was in the middle of a love triangle. "I always wanted to meet a guy like you," Quinn said with a small, tender smile. She really had beautiful eyes and he couldn't help stare into them as she flirted shamelessly. "You're not like any of the people that I knew back home. You're sweet, you're protective of your brother and you're so adorable. I swear, there aren't many like you left."

"That's sweet Quinn," he said, wondering when the right time was to mention that he sort of had a thing with Rachel. He was never really good with social things like that. He was especially awkward with girls, who always seemed to make things complicated. Why did they do that? "You're really nice to be around too. I'm sure that there are other guys out there like me. I mean, I'm just me."

That was when she kissed him. It was very brief, just a brush of her lips against his. It made him blush and then he realized that no, that was wrong.

"Quinn, you can't just kiss a guy," he said, before turning around and rushing off. He left her standing there, staring, which was rude but he didn't know how to react. He kept on going until he was outside of the building.

Outside, he ran into two girls holding hands. One of them was a girl he'd noticed several times with a slight tint to her skin and an devilish look and the other was the girl he'd dubbed cat-girl in his head. "Are you okay?" asked the first girl. He suddenly remembered her name was Santana and she had a reputation, sexually. Her bloodline was from a creature who fed on sexual energy, but apparently she just had men for sport, because her real interest was the cat-girl, Brittany. "You look like you've seen a ghost, which well, here is possible."

Finn rolled his eyes a little at the bad joke. "I just…someone did something I don't think they should have," he admitted. "There was this girl, Quinn, and she kissed me. I think that I'm with Rachel though and I'm freaked out."

He noticed that there was a raw sexual energy between the two girls and it made him nervous. "You're with that little loudmouth Rachel?" Santana asked with a slight look of disgust. "That's so gross."

"Ew," Brittany agreed.

"Hey Rachel's awesome," he defended. "She's smart and pretty and a brilliant singer. She's nice to be around and I like her."

"Well then tell Fabray to back off," Santana said with a slight shrug, leaning into Brittany's side. "You're weird, kid."

"Totally weird."

Santana laid a hand on his shoulder as Brittany spoke. She tilted her head to the side and gave him a slightly seductive smile. He felt his stomach flipflop violently. Brittany turned to Santana and shook her head. "Leave him alone," she said darkly. "He has enough to deal with when it comes to Rachel and Quinn. You don't want to mess with him anyway. He's kind of weird and stuff."

The girl turned to Finn, smiling. She had pointed ears, he noticed, that twitched slightly in her agitation. "Sorry about Santana," she said softly. "She doesn't know how to control herself sometimes. Good luck with your problem."

"Uh thanks," he mumbled.

Finn decided to go back inside from the other side of the building, figuring it was large enough so that he would not have to see Quinn. He actually ran into Kurt and Blaine in the cafeteria. He had not seen much of the boy that his stepbrother was so smitten with, so it was interesting and distracted him from what was now a very confusing situation. They both had big eyes, absolutely staring at each other. Finn didn't know much about emotions but he knew those two were quite infatuated with each other.

"Hey guys," he said, walking over to them. Both were already eating lunch which made his stomach growl.

"Hi Finn," Kurt said with a bright smile. "Gonna go get food?"

He nodded, going to get food, hungry.


	14. Chapter 14

When Finn returned from getting food, Kurt and Blaine were eying another boy suspiciously. Finn hadn't seen him at the choir rehearsals and wasn't exactly sure what his name was. "I'm glad that you calmed down," Kurt told the boy with a very icy glare. Kurt was a gentle guy, his brother and one of his best friends but sometimes he could be downright intimidating. Finn was glad that they were close, because Kurt could have really been scary. Finn also wasn't sure that he liked Kurt intimidating this guy. He was really big.

The kid didn't say anything. He just glared at them and went to get food from the cafeteria. "What was that?" Finn asked, setting his tray down and realizing just how hungry he was.

"Just a very angry dude," Kurt's friend Blaine said quickly. After a few minutes, the pair finished eating.

"I'll see you up at the room Finn," Kurt said as they cleaned up and headed out.

When the boy who Kurt had been so icy to returned, Finn had to admit that he was interested in him. "Hey," he said, as the guy sat down with his tray. "I don't think we've talked yet. I'm Finn Hudson."

"Dave," he said gruffly.

"Um, so what species are you?" Finn asked, taking a bite of his food and looking up at Dave while chewing. He winced a little bit at the question because, well, there was no polite way to ask someone what they were.

Dave grumbled but answered all the same. "My Mom was part giant," he said darkly. Obviously that fact bothered him and Finn regret the choice to ask him what he was. "Are you part too?"

"No, my Dad was Titan or something," Finn mumbled. "I looked at old pictures of him and stuff but honestly he just looks like a big guy like me."

"Same here," he said and Finn saw that a bond was growing between them. "I never thought of my mom as anything special. She's a big woman but not too big or anything. I dunno. She kept me in the dark about what she was 'til they started rounding up freaks."

"It was terrifying, wasn't it?" Finn asked.

Dave nodded slowly. "They came and took me and my mom. We got separated..."

"Did you call home yet?"

He nodded slowly. "My dad was happy," he mumbled. "He doesnt know where they took my mom though."

Finn felt his stomach drop into his feet. He couldn't imagine knowing his parent was taken into slavery. He and Kurt had inherited their "impure" traits from dead parents. He swallowed and took a deep breath. "I am so sorry man," he whispered.

"I don't do pity."

"Okay," he mumbled. "Are you from around here?" Dave nodded. Finn kept talking. "Me too. Or well, it didnt seem like they shipped Kurt and I far from here."

"He your brother?"

"Stepbrother."

"Cool," Dave mumbled after some hesitance.

Finn finished eating and before long Dave did as well. "You play any sports?" Finn asked. "I was thinking of going outside and messing around. It'd be cool to play with someone who deals with weird strength too."

"I play football, well, and hockey but I doubt we have a rink here."

"Football it is."

Finn really enjoyed going out and playing football with Dave. It turned out they were quite alike. They had a lot of the same anxieties and worries about being strong and big and they just liked the same things. It was cool to make a new friend.

Time passed for Finn and before he knew it, the choir show came. He had extreme anxiety about singing the lead vocals for a very well-known show choir. What if he wasn't good enough? Rachel constantly assured him that he was good enough but at the same time, she was interested in him. Any girl who was interested in a guy was capable of lying to him about how good he was, right?

"Finn, you look like you're going to vomit," Kurt said, walking up to him. He looked fantastic in a nice button down shirt, the costume for the choir's first number. He turned around and faced his stepbrother, giving him a gentle smile and a nod. He was trying his best to keep his cool.

"I'm nervous," he said.

"Totally understandable, but you're really a good singer," Kurt said, putting a hand on his shoulder and rubbing it lightly. "You never really had the interest in music that I did, but you have the talent. It's incredible."

Finn held his breath and nodded, just willing to go for it.

The show began and Finn and Rachel sung lead on the medley of Journey numbers that Schuester prepared for them. Brad was there and as far as Finn knew the receptive audience was shielded from the less-than-human nature of the singers in front of them. The show went fast and was absolutely awesome. To Finn's surprise, literally ever member of the choir was musically talented to some degree.

"That was great!" Rachel yelled as they came off stage, letting the next group perform. She wrapped her arms around him and he picked her up as part of their celebration. He noticed Quinn giving them a sort of evil eye from the side of the backstage area, but he ignored it. Rachel, however, did not.

"What on earth is Quinn's problem?" she asked darkly.

Finn didn't really want to tell her what was bothering her choir mate but felt that he had to. "Well, Quinn kinda came onto me the other day," he said. "I sort of shot her down."

Rachel's eyes changed at that. She looked upset, like she was on the verge of tears. "Quinn?" she asked softly. He didn't' understand at all why she looked so sad. He told her that he shot Quinn down, didn't he? She took off in a huff, bustling past Sam, who was attempting to eagerly tell her just how good she was.

Even though he didn't understand what her problem was, he followed her. He walked past a couple of the chattering choir members over to the girl that he undoubtedly liked. "Rachel," he said. "Why did you run off?"

She looked up at him and he could see the slightest evidence of tears in her eyes. "I'm never good enough Finn," she said. "I'm never good enough or pretty enough or desirable enough. I just really like you and I don't want to lose you to some super stunning girl like Quinn who has everything and can get what she wants."

"I like you," he pointed out, emphasizing his words. "I like you and I left Quinn."

She slowed down and looked up into his eyes.

"You want to be my girlfriend?" he asked, seeing her insecurity and just wanting to comfort her. He wanted to make her feel better. When he saw her eyes light up in a smile he knew that it was a good idea because she was thrilled. She threw her arms around him and held tightly, standing up on her tiptoes.

When they got back to the house, Will put his arm around Finn. "You did a fantastic job Finn," he said with big eyes. "You're fantastic! You're just what we needed here. That was an amazing job. You and Rachel…star couple that's for sure. The crowd loved it."

"Alright, calm down Will," Shannon said from the other side of the room. "Let the boy breathe."

The adults took off to the other side of the room and Dave approached him pretty hesitantly. "Hey," he muttered.

"Hey."

"Went well?"

"Yep," he said brightly. He looked over at Kurt who was heading up the stairs and rolling his eyes.


	15. Chapter 15

Kurt watched Dave and Finn talk with a little bit of hesitance. He was glad that there was a side of the bullying teenager that was gentler, but at the same time didn't want his stepbrother to be close to someone with such violent tendencies. He wasn't sure if that was a fair hesitance. He shrugged it off and then went upstairs to see Blaine. When he got to the correct door he knocked a few times.

Blaine answered with a smile on his face. He had promised Kurt that after the concert he would join up. "Hi Kurt," he said, opening the door wider to let him in. "How did the show go?"

"It was fantastic," Kurt said, walking into the room and sitting down at the end of Blaine's bed. "Finn and Rachel's voices really go well together and the whole thing just fell into place. I can't wait until they ask me to sing some kind of solo, but still, the group dynamic was fantastic and it's such a talented group."

"That's great," Blaine said quickly. "It's weird that all of these people came together to be so talented. Schuester's got a good thing with his choir."

Blaine seemed much happier than the last time they'd talked and Kurt found that made him happier himself. Blaine meant a lot to him and it was obvious that he had been through a lot of distressing things in his past. "Yeah, it was really fun," he said. "Finn had some serious romantic woes though. Rachel was very distraught that Quinn kissed him. She is now his girlfriend though so I guess things worked out the way they were supposed to." Blaine laughed, awkwardly, his eyes locked with Kurt's. "What?" he asked.

"You're just so adorable Kurt," Blaine admitted. "The way that your eyes light up when you talk and the way you sound so excited. It's adorable."

Kurt shook his head. "Seriously," he said. "I'm not."

Blaine looked up at him with a strange look on his face. "I'm pretty new to having crushes and I've never had a long term boyfriend," he admitted, shaking his head in disbelief at something – himself, maybe? "I just really have a crush on you Kurt. I like you a lot and simply put, you're adorable."

Kurt heated up so fast at that. For some reason, he was unable to believe that someone had a crush on him of all people. "You do?" he asked, still hesitant to believe it, even though Blaine outright said it. "I like you too Blaine, a lot. I really like you."

"Would it be really out of line to ask if I could kiss you?"

Kurt looked up surprised. Even if Blaine liked him, Kurt never imagined that anyone would ask him that question. He nodded after a full minute of staring at the other boy. Blaine then leaned forward and pressed his lips to Kurt's, pressing a hand to his cheek as he did so. Kurt, even though he was completely blindsided, did his best to kiss Blaine back, feeling absolutely breathless. He had never kissed someone before, he was going to embarrass himself, and yet it seemed perfectly alright.   
"That was amazing."

Blaine nodded and Kurt could almost see the stars in his eyes. Maybe this was all falling into place. Maybe he was destined to come here and find this out.

The next evening, they held a party in one of the big rooms, celebrating the choir's big show. Kurt noticed that Will and Shannon were selectively ignoring the illegal activities (the underage alcohol consumption, for example) but he figured they did it because the kids in the house went through enough. They lived adult lives and were pretty much adults in that sense. He looked around and found that he was really reflecting on the different types of creatures. They were all so very different, but they all suffered the same.

Blaine was a little bit tipsy about an hour into the party, something that Kurt found endearing. He wrapped one arm around Kurt and smiled at absolutely everything. Blaine deserved to loosen up if anyone else did. "Kurt, this is all so awesome," he said seriously. His eyes were big and he looked at the mundane party with the excitement of a child. "Everyone is having so much fun, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are," Kurt said, looking around the room with a smile. They all deserved to be happy, to really be enjoying themselves. It made sense.

A little while later, the kids broke out a karaoke machine, which an intoxicated Rachel appreciated immensely. "Finn won't sing a duet with me," she said, grabbing Blaine by the waist. "He says that I'm too drunk and we'll be embarrassing. Will you sing with me Blaine? Nobody's heard your voice yet and we need new talent on the scene. It's no fun when I've already heard everyone's voices."

Kurt watched in amusement as Blaine agreed to sing with Rachel. He was obviously a lot less inhibited when he was drunk. He and Rachel sang pretty well together considering they were both trashed, but Kurt didn't appreciate the flirty eyes she was making at his Blaine. She better stick to Finn, considering that he was straight and wanted her. He cut them off before she could make any drunken moves, when to his surprise, he was approached by Finn.

"Hey dude, you remember Dave, right?" he asked.

Kurt looked over to Blaine, but found that the boy had curled up on a couch to relax after all the alcohol he consumed. That was probably a good idea. He turned to Finn and nodded. "I believe I remember him," he said softly. "What's wrong?"

"He's in the bathroom and is really, really upset," he said. "I think he's one of those people who falls into the sad drunk stereotype. He had a few too many and now he's locked himself in a stall and is kind of half-sobbing, half-yelling. I know you're really good with upset people so I thought you could help me."

Kurt hesitated for a moment. He wasn't sure that he wanted to help the boy who had proven to be violent, but then again, he didn't really want Finn to do it alone. He followed him to the bathroom, where he immediately heard the sob yelling that Finn was talking about. "David," Kurt said, putting on his gentle talking-to-drunks voice. "David, can you open up the stall door please?"

"No I don' wanna. You're not my mom. My mom…I dunno where she is."

Finn mouthed, "his mom was taken," and Kurt felt his heart lurch a little bit. He opened the door and Finn and Kurt were face to face with a distraught boy. His eyes were ringed by dark circles and he looked exhausted. "You drank a little too much, didn't you?" Kurt asked, crossing his arms and trying not to sound condescending, even though he knew that he very likely did. "What's the matter?"

"My mom's gone, I'm in this stupid ass house and I'm so tired of – gay – stuff. I'm suck and I want to go home!"

Kurt winced a little bit at that. He knew that this was one of those people who would confess anything while a bit of alcohol was in their system. "Finn, can you leave for a second?" he asked his brother. Finn nodded and slowly backed out of the bathroom, mumbling about how Kurt should be careful. Kurt continued talking the minute that he was out of the room. "Dave, are you really gay?" he asked.

The boy staggered out of the stall and leaned against the sink. "Yeah 'm gay," he said with a bitter chuckle.

"You can come out here, you know that right?" Kurt asked gently. "I mean, it's a house full of people who were ripped from their homes for being different. Nobody here is normal. Nobody here is going to be homophobic when they've experienced the worst phobia and hate of all. Just come out."

Kurt didn't expect much of the declaration considering that the boy was trashed, however, he also didn't expect that the boy would lean forward and cautiously kiss him. He blinked for a moment before pulling back. "I can't support you that way," he said anxiously. "I do want to support you though. I'm going to get Finn okay? I'm also going to tell him to get you some water and help you lay down."


	16. Chapter 16

Kurt laughed to himself as he walked down the way toward the pool. He could not believe his life. He went from being an awkward gay boy who couldn't get anyone to return his affection to a boy who got himself kissed by ever gay in the vicinity. He looked into the crystal clear blue water, rolling his eyes. There was more luxury in the house then he had ever dealt with in his life. He had to admit that Will and Shannon took really good care of their kids. Kurt felt they did all they could.

"Hey kiddo."

He turned to see Shannon sitting down next to him. She still intimidated him, despite the fact that she was a very kind woman and far more competent then her counterpart, Will. "Karofsky's a blubbering mess and Will noticed you leaving the party. Those two things related at all?"

Kurt blushed at the imposing woman's words. He laughed, because he didn't know what to say. "Sort of," he said. "I'm overwhelmed."

"Talk to me?"

Kurt hesitated to talk to her because he was afraid of opening up like that, but he'd usually go to someone in a situation like this. Probably his father, if the idea of Kurt and some boys sharing kisses didn't make him sick first. "I just went from being someone who has never been kissed to someone who was kissed by both his crush and a closeted, sad, drunk guy."

Something flashed through her eyes at the word 'kiss' but disappeared seconds later as she comforted him. "Aw man, sugar..."

"Life is confusing," Kurt mumbled.

"Yes, life is confusing."

"I don't know what's next," Kurt said, finding his voice a near whisper. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. His dreams were crushed, as much as the mysterious choir sated his thirst for performance. His father wasn't there and he wasn't considered a human. He could date Blaine and be some kind of gay guru to Dave but why?

"I never know what's next," she responded seriously. "I never, ever know. It's a scary world."

"It is."

"Working with Will, making' this place, I realized that you gotta take things one day at a time."

He understood. That was a good philosophy. It was one day at a time. It had to be. If he tried to think about the distant or honestly even immediate future he was going to make himself sick. He had to slowly take things one day at a time or he was going to freak out. "Yeah, that's a good way to think of things…" he muttered, trying not to sound as apathetic to the whole thing as he was. "Do you ever wonder if what you guys are doing here is worth it?" He blinked as he wondered out loud. He realized just how offensive that sounded, so he tried to justify it. "I mean, Dave, he got separated from his mom. It made me think that there are hundreds of thousands of people like us that didn't get saved like this. The world is falling apart and we're sitting here in this gigantic mansion doing little to make change."

She seemed surprised by his words. "You're a good kid and a smart one too, aren't you?" she asked. "I wonder that myself every single day. I wonder if it's worth the struggle. Will and I deal with that every single day and it's hard to think that it's worth it on bad days, but fifteen kids lives have been spared, which has to mean something."

"I get what you mean," he said, not wanting her to think he was some kind of sick, sad, cynic. "Thank you for comforting me. You didn't have to. I just feel confused sometimes."

"Least I could do."

~

Finn didn't really understand why Kurt was so upset, but he did his best to help Dave after his brother took off. "I'm such a stupid freak," the other boy whined as Finn handed him off to Will Schuester, who took the drunk teenager off of his hands and comforted him.

"Dude, we're all freaks," Finn said softly, trying his best to understand. "Just relax, let Mr. Schue sit you down and sober up a little okay? It'll all be alright."

He turned around and found himself face to face with Rachel. The girl looked over at Dave and Will with a concerned expression on her face. "What's going on with them?" she asked, reaching over and taking Finn by the hand. He enclosed his hand around hers and walked with her back toward the general floor where kids were still dancing and laughing.

"I guess he's a bit of a depressed drunk," Finn said, not really knowing any more of the story. "He'll be okay."

She nodded, before turning her attention back to him. She had a huge smile on her face. "Finn, would you like to dance with me?" she asked. He wasn't much of a dancer and wanted to say no to her request, but at the same time she seemed so eager. She was so happy and Finn really wanted to make her happy.

"Alright," he said. "But I just want you to know that I can't dance."

She shook her head and rolled her eyes, guiding him along. He was praying he wouldn't step on her feet or cause her any injury. She just seemed so happy to be dancing with him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and danced along with him, glancing around. "I have to admit that I'm so pleased that everyone can see us dancing together," she said softly. "I don't think that anyone would believe you'd be with a girl like me otherwise."

"You've got to be kidding me," he said, running a hand down her shoulder. "You're amazing, okay?" He wanted to do whatever it took to get rid of her insecurity. He knew that he would one day. He leaned over and kissed her, all thoughts of whatever problem was going on replaced with an urge to make Rachel Berry more self confident.


	17. Chapter 17

Blaine was absolutely nervous. Kurt squeezed his hand and he could feel the nerves in the tightly returned squeeze. "It's okay Blaine," he said gently, hoping he could quell some of the insane fears. He didn't really get what scared Blaine so much about joining the rehearsal session but he was and Kurt was protective. He liked Blaine and wanted Blaine to find the relief that Kurt did there.

Blaine looked to him, smiled and nodded sharply. "I know that." He followed Kurt inside and sat down. Kurt kept nearby.

When Will entered the room, he took notice of Blaine immediately. "Well, look at that," he said. "New Directions, we have a new member. Everyone welcome Blaine Anderson." The group clapped politely at the announcement. Blaine smiled but it was forced. He was still scared. Kurt didn't know what he could do to ease his nerves so he just held his hand.

The rehearsal went well. Mercedes, a girl with a powerful, soulful voice sung a song she had been working on and Mike and Tina did a song and dance number. Kurt took the opportunity to sing as well, which resulted in stunned reactions from the other members. "I have never heard a dude sing like that," Puck mumbled, gaping.

Kurt blushed when he realized by the boy's eyes that he wasn't making fun. "Seriously," whispered Brittany, leaning against Santana. "I wanted to cry hearing him. It just got in my heart. Don't you agree?"

Santana shook her head but seemed impressed. "I agree," Will said, overhearing them. "Kurt, your voice is certainly an addition we never expected. I want you to sing at our next recital alright?"

Kurt nodded, flourishing dramatically. "It'd be my pleasure. Thank you."

After the rehearsal ended, Kurt and Blaine took the time to talk alone. Blaine wouldn't talk very much about the rehearsal and had not said a word during it, but opened up afterward. "That was a lot of fun," he said, his eyes shining in the way that had made Kurt fall in love with him. "I think they made a good choice having you sing at the recital. Your voice is positively heartwarming you know that?"

Kurt shook his head. "You flatter me Blaine," he said, taking him over to a bench outdoors. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something, if you have the time."

"We don't have anything but time here."

Kurt nodded in somber agreement. "Well," he said uncomfortably, "I just wanted to let you know that the other day, at the party, David was a little drunk. Finn asked me to help him with consoling Dave and getting him out of the bathroom stall he'd locked himself in. When I did, he went and kissed me. Now, before you freak out or anything, I didn't kiss him. He kissed me and he was drunk. I want to help him but it's not that way at all."

To his surprise, Blaine laughed. "I thought I was the nervous wreck," he said, tapping Kurt on the shoulder in a gentle, comforting manner. "Kurt, I don't mind that he kissed you, as long as you make it clear that you're not interested. Hell, even if you were interested, I'm not your boyfriend…not yet."

"I would like to see where our relationship goes," Kurt admitted, taking the bold initiative and leaning over to kiss Blaine. "Could I maybe tentatively call you my boyfriend?" He laughed as he stayed where he was, inches from Blaine's face. Blaine nodded, a smile crossing his face that comforted Kurt and told him he wasn't being an idiot.

"I'd love that."'

Kurt did still keep his promise to help Dave out. He went up to the troubled teen's bedroom the next morning, knocking lightly. When Dave answered, he was considerably more sober and considerably more aggressive. "What the hell do you want?" he asked, snapping at Kurt instantly. Kurt could tell that the aggression and anger was mostly a defense mechanism. It kept him from getting hurt.

"You were pretty drunk the last time we spoke," Kurt said simply. "I was worried about you."

"There's nothing to worry about."

Kurt expected that answer. "Nothing except for the fact that you kissed me," he said, bringing it out and laying it on the table. "David, there's no shame in what you did and if I wasn't interested in someone else it wouldn't have been a bad thing at all. You can come out of the closet as gay, at least here. I know that the world isn't exactly appreciative of things that are different, whether that difference is sexuality or species, but this is definitely a safe spot. Blaine and I are both gay. I believe Brittany is bisexual and Santana is…sexual. There is a diversity, not only in species, but in all different people traits here."

Dave let him in the room, to his surprise. "I just can't. I have nobody."

"Who is your closest friend here?" Kurt asked, deciding that was a better angle to go. He hadn't really paid much mind, but he didn't notice Dave hanging around anyone.

"Finn," Dave mumbled.

Kurt hadn't exactly expected that, even though he knew the two were getting close. "Why don't you start by coming out to Finn? He's had to go through a lot of personal change during the course of our friendship and becoming family but he's as typical guy as you can get. It's a good start and might make you feel better."

Dave shrugged. "Where is he?"

They found Finn that evening. "David," Kurt said, trying to convince him to just do it. Dave looked at him with an uncomfortable expression on his face and then walked over to Finn. Kurt wasn't sure this was the best idea he ever had but in such an isolated environment it was probably a good idea.

"Uh Finn?"

"Yeah."

"What would you say if I told you I might be gay?"

"I wouldn't care. Dude, gay guys are awesome. Are you?"

"Yeah."

Kurt smiled, finding that for once one of his great plans was successful. Finn and Dave were very much alike and all someone like Dave needed….well not all someone like Dave needed, but a good starter, was to have a friend. The two boys went off to play football and Kurt was left alone but he didn't mind in the slightest.

It was Thursday when Will and Shannon made an announcement around breakfast time. "We're going to start making rounds to your homes again," Shannon said, a pleased expression on her face. "We'll be starting with those of you who have homes and families in Ohio this Saturday. Will and I will be sending out schedules."

Kurt, who was eating with Blaine at the time, practically collapsed into his side. "I get to see my dad again," he whispered to Blaine. He wasn't sure that anyone could understand the magnitude of what was going to be given to him. As much as he tried to repress his horrible thoughts and loneliness when it came to missing his dad, it hurt every single day. He needed to see his dad again to get through.

Blaine wrapped both arms around him and held him in a tight, comforting hug. He leaned into his shoulder, praying that it wasn't a dream and he would get to go see his family again.


	18. Chapter 18

The house looked the same to Kurt as it had when their parents bought it. They had been so excited, so eager to build a new life with their combined families. It had been hard for Kurt, leaving the house he grew up in, but it was right. The Hummel men had been living alone for their whole lives and the same went for Finn and his mother. They were combining into a new family and it was good.

"Are you boys good to go in?" Shannon asked. "I hate to tag along but I'll just hang to the side, I promise."

Kurt nodded and approached the door, ahead of Finn. He knocked on the door and waited. Moments later, his father opened it. Burt Hummel looked like a man who had been through hell. He was much thinner than Kurt remembered with his eyes deep and lined with dark circles. He stared at Kurt like he was looking at some kind of ghost. He shook his head and opened his mouth but no words came out.

"Hi Dad," Kurt whispered, waiting.

That was when his father launched himself at Kurt, wrapping his arms around him. Kurt had never felt so much strength in his whole life. He sagged into the hug, holding his father as tightly as he could. All of the walls he had put up, all of the self-protecting shields, they just crumbled to the ground. He clung to his father, whispering almost incoherent comforts as the man began literally sobbing.

"Kurt…I don't know…how…what are you…"

Kurt gestured for Finn and Shannon to enter the house; however, he kept his tight hold on his father, afraid to lose him. "Dad," he whispered. He was crying. He always hated crying when other people were watching, but it couldn’t be helped. "I told you that I would come back to you. I'm fine. Finn's fine. We're being taken care of by truly amazing people. I know that it's hard to believe but we are." It was a mess. Kurt was crying, his father was crying. "Dad, what happened to you? You look like a mess…isn't Carole…"

"She's done the best she can with me, kid," his father whispered, his voice soft. "Look at you. You're healthy and all in one piece. It's a miracle. I just…I can't believe…it's not the same without you kids here. We're both not okay. We got your calls, of course, but we couldn't even believe that you were both okay."

"I assure you, sir, that we're doing our best to keep these kids safe and comfortable," Beiste said quietly.

"You're saints."

"No, we're just people," she responded.

"I can't let you go again, Kurt," the man whispered desperately, still clinging to Kurt's arms as though he was afraid his son would disappear. "Not after all this time. I can't let my son go again."

"You're going to have to, Dad," Kurt whispered, tears flowing freely.

"Finn."

Kurt turned around to see Carole standing there with the same stricken expression on her face that his father wore. She didn't look as awful as his father, because Kurt knew she was taking care of him, but she also wore this lost expression, this permanent heartbreak. She immediately took her much larger son into her arms. "Mom," Finn said, holding her tightly. Kurt knew the desperation and wanted to leave the two alone.

"Dad, can we go see my room?" he asked softly.

To give Finn and his mother privacy, Kurt and his father went upstairs to Kurt's old bedroom. It was untouched from the day that Kurt was taken. Kurt swallowed deeply as he saw it all. His old records, his computer, his bed. He held onto his father's hand as he surveyed the room around him. "It feels like all of this stuff was from someone else's life," he admitted softly, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. He was so tired. He wanted to go back to this life so badly but he knew it was over. "What's been happening?" he asked. "Nothing's changed in here b-but everything has changed."

His father was at a loss for words. "I don't know what to say to you," he whispered. "Carole and I have been trying to go on with our lives but it's hard. It's almost impossible to keep on living when our reasons for it aren't here. God, Kurt."

They talked for what felt like hours. Kurt tried to keep the conversation light and as far from the horrible situation as possible. He talked about family members, ones he barely cared about before the madness began. He talked about school, the community, his father's shop. He talked about anything he could. Horribly, he resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have to leave again. "I'm going to stay in touch," he swore to his father, "I'm going to stay as close to you as I can."

Finn, on the other hand, was not handling the idea of leaving his mother again. His mom had allowed Shannon to go sit in the living room and they were alone. They talked for awhile, of course, but it hit him very suddenly that he'd have to leave the mother he missed so much again. The first sixteen years of his life had revolved around his mom. It was them against the world. How could he let her go again? He held her tightly, sobbing as the realization hit him. "I can't leave you again Mom," he whispered, choking on the words as they came out. "How can I leave you again?"

"I don't know Finn," she said in a tender, gentle voice. She rubbed his arm to calm him down but he wasn't having any of it.

"I can't," he choked out. "I won't. I can't leave you again. The world has to get better now. I want to go back up to my room. I want you to nag me about leaving my stuff on the floor. I want our lives back Mom!"

"I know sweetie. I do too," she whispered. He could feel the tears as she leaned up against his shoulder and held him tight. She was crying as much as he was. She didn't want to let him go anymore than he wanted to let go of her. He didn't want to let go or lose his mother. "It's going to be okay my boy. You're so strong Finn. You're just like your daddy was. It's going to be okay. We're going to get through this. You're going to come back to me."

Afterward, after the painful ties had been cut, Finn and Kurt sat in the back of the van they'd come in. Kurt wrapped his arms around Finn and held him in a protective brotherly hug. "We're going to get out of this situation one day, Finn," Kurt promised, his voice wavering but soothing all the same. "We're going to get out of this situation and when we do, it'll be together. We're brothers and what we have is forever. It gets better."


	19. Chapter 19

Finn couldn't find Rachel when they returned, so he went to mope alone. He closed his eyes and sat down, only to have his solitude disturbed by Dave. "Dude, you okay?" Dave asked, looking at Finn with concern. This led to Finn panicking. How could he complain to Dave when he at least saw his mother and knew where she was? It seemed super wrong; Dave didn't know what kind of horrors his mom had been through. He shook his head. "I'm fine."

"Cut the crap," he said quickly. "I'm not gonna hate you for being depressed and shit. My trip is on Wednesday and I'm gonna cry or something. We all got our own problems."

"Okay," Finn said softly. "It just really hurt. I had to force myself to leave my mom."

Dave nodded. "How'd, um, Kurt take it?" he asked. It didn't surprise Finn that his new friend was fascinated with Kurt. Finn had to admit he'd be into Kurt if he was a random gay boy.

"He and his dad are close. It wasn't easy on him but Kurt's a lot stronger than he looks."

"Yeah, I picked up on that."

Finn smiled. It was good that other people were seeing the wonderful aspects of Kurt that he learned every day. "You wanna go outside and toss around a ball again?" he asked. He had to get this off of his mind, at least for a moment.

Finn and Dave played ball for awhile, focusing on that rather than their situation. Finn couldn't help think about the world, however. There had to be a way that the world could change so that he and Kurt could go be with their families again. Seeing the house he wanted to spend his life in had ripped open his old wounds. He was hurting.

Finn caught a rough pass from Dave and smiled. That was the moment that Shannon came to see them. "Hey Finn, I was worried about you after leaving your folks place," she said honestly, "but I also wanna say that you made an impressive catch there. I used to coach football before all hell broke loose and both of you are awesome."

Dave smiled at the compliment like someone who didn't take or receive many compliments. "Maybe we should start a team," he said, like someone who was half joking. Finn nodded. For awhile there, Shannon joined them in a small game and Finn forgot about the things that were hurting him so much. .

Meanwhile, Kurt was the one who came upon Rachel. She saw his expression and immediately gave him a hug. He tentatively hugged her back, even though public displays of affection were not his favorite things. "I know how hard it is, especially the first time," Rachel whispered in his ear. "The first time that I visited my dads I started crying so hard that I nearly gave myself a panic attack."

"It was hard," Kurt whispered, shaking his head. "I couldn't handle it. I want my father back."

Rachel saw right through his restrained façade and wrapped her arms around him again. He was going to have to get used to the hugging thing. "You know, you don't have to be so strong," she said softly. "It hurts. It hurts like hell and it's a pretty helpless feeling. I don't know what else to do."

He smiled at her, glad that she saw right through him. His vulnerabilities were a shield but sometimes it was hard to have them. "Thank you Rachel," he whispered.

"I'd love it if we could become friends," she said.

They talked for quite awhile after that. Surprisingly, Kurt found that he and Rachel had a lot in common. They were both theater geeks and longed for the golden days of Broadway to return. They shared similar favorites in musicals, actresses, musicians. Rachel looked like she'd found a friend for the first time in forever. Her eyes positively lit up as they spoke. "I have never met someone who cared about these things," she admitted.

"Well, I'm not like other boys," he teased her.

They talked for what seemed like forever before Finn returned from outdoors and approached them. Rachel beamed at him. "Your brother is awesome, Finn!" she yelled enthusiastically. "We have the same taste in everything. We're like...like two halves of one person. This is awesome."

Finn smiled, surprised by the outburst. Kurt refrained from mentioning that there were parts of them that were oh-so-different, nodding over Rachel's shoulder. "That's great," he said. "Always good to find a friend who feels the same way you do."

Rachel smiled and Kurt could see an idea forming in her head. "Say, have either of you ever rode a horse?"

Finn looked at her, surprised at the sudden change of subject. Kurt gave a flat out "no," that was echoed by his stepbrother's.

"Would you like to?"

Kurt graced Rachel with another strong worded no. There was no way that he was ever going to get on a horse. Finn, on the other hand, was quite enamored with Rachel and shrugged. "I mean, if you're sure I won't die trying," he said awkwardly.

"I'm really good at it," Rachel assured him. "My daddies used to take me horseback riding and I have spent the last couple off-seasons when I'm not working on choir stuff working with the horses here. Let's make a date Finn."

They made a date and Kurt had to admit they were adorable. They were almost two adorable. "Look, I'll catch you guys later," he said, deciding that he was going to find Blaine and make some adorableness of his own.

He met up with Blaine in the front lobby of the manor and they quickly found their way up to Kurt's room. "Are you sure you're okay?" Blaine asked, after Kurt told him the whole story of going to visit their parents. "That must have been quite traumatic, even though you seem to be handling it well."

Kurt blushed and lowered his head at that. Rachel was right. He definitely hid behind a mask. "I miss my dad," he mumbled, tentatively laying his head on Blaine's shoulder. Blaine responded just the way he wanted by putting an arm round him. Yes, Kurt was still a little intimidated by affection but with the guy that he was so interested in, he wanted to prove to himself that he could be as affectionate and loving as anyone else.

They ended up cuddling and watching a movie. They planned a date on the same day as Fin and Rachel's. When Kurt woke up, he was in Blaine's arms still.


	20. Chapter 20

"Rachel, I seriously don't think this is a good idea."

Finn said those words the minute that Rachel dragged him out to the stables. He had noticed the horse stables on his first walk around the manor, but had never thought of getting his gigantic self on one of those beasts. He took a deep breath and shook his head. The pretty girl at his side, however, didn't take his protests seriously. She laughed and then broke out into a smile that was as pretty as she was.

"Finn," she said. "You'll do fine."

He gestured up and down his body. "Look at me Rachel!" he yelled. "I'm part-Titan."

"I've been told," she said with a cheerful demeanor. "You do not, however, weigh too much to ride. I'm going to ask whoever's on stable duty today if Kira is okay to ride. She's a big, solid, but totally gentle girl. She'd be perfect."

They walked into the stable, where they met Sam. His wings were curled up but poked slightly out of the holes in his shirt. "Hi guys," he said. When Finn gave him a confused look, he returned a gentle smile and added, "Quinn, Brittany and I usually take turns on stable duty. Quinn's aunt and uncle owned horses and Brittany and I are just pretty awesome with animals. You going out for a ride?"

Rachel nodded. "How's Kira, Sam?" she asked gently.

He smiled. "Big old girl's doing great. Good plan having the two of them go together."

Rachel helped him prepare the saddle, suit up and get ready to go, but that didn't do anything to calm his raging nerves. When he was finally on the horse he let out a sigh of relief, just because he didn't have to worry about that step anymore. Rachel mounted a smaller horse, who she called Honey. "Just follow the path Finn," she said comfortingly. "Give her a gentle nudge and she knows what to do. Mr. Schue was sort of joking around that these guys know the path around the manor as well as he does. They could do it in their sleep."

They rode out and onto the path that wound around the manor. Finn had to admit that he nearly screamed like a girl when Kira started to pick up speed, but he quickly figured out that she was a gentle horse and kept a nice even pace. He and Rachel rode on for awhile, circling the manor a couple of times before Rachel pulled on the reins and brought her horse to a slow trot. "Finn, do you want to stop for a bit?"

They stopped in the middle of the grassy area. Rachel reached into the satchel hanging from the horse's side to give both animals a treat. She smiled at Finn. "See, I told you that it wasn't terrifying," she said with a gentle smile. When he got down, he found that his legs were hurting. He winced and sat down on the grass. Rachel sat down as well and nudged him in the side.

For awhile, they talked about simple things like the next recital, or the way that Santana and Quinn got into a fight the day before. The conversation, however, did take a turn toward the deeper side of things when Finn asked Rachel where she saw her future heading. "I mean, I know how hard it is to think of a future when you're stuck in here," he mumbled, "but where are we going? I don't have a clue."

She paused and looked at him with thoughtful eyes. "I don't know," she said honestly. "My original life plan was to get on Broadway. That's obviously not going to happen right now, but I still believe in it. My current life plan is just to keep performing to the best of my ability."

"That's pretty cool," he said. She was a smart girl.

"What about you?" she asked hesitantly. "What did you want to do before you and Kurt were taken?"

He opened his mouth to answer to find that he didn't really know. "I honestly was never that sure," he said. "My mom wanted me to go to college. I was never that smart but I had a pretty good shot at getting some help through my football scholarships. Part of me always thought of joining the army like my dad did, but I know my mom would die if I even thought of it. Plus, this country's not exactly something you wanna fight for."

"No, most would much rather be fighting against it…" Rachel admitted.

"Do you think we'll ever be out of here?" Finn asked, trying his best to cut off the insecurity he had about not knowing where he was going.

"I believe."

While Finn and Rachel discussed both the mundane and the extraordinary on their date, Blaine and Kurt were doing the same. The two boys had found a spot near the tennis courts that made the perfect stargazing spot as the sun started to go down. "I just want to see my dad again, you know?" Kurt asked, smiling as Blaine listened to him intently. He liked the way Blaine hung onto every word he said with a smile on his face.

"That's a nice, simple goal," Blaine said. "I don't know what I want to do right now and that kind of makes me crazy, but I'm trying to do the one day at a time thing as best as I can. I really do like it here. I want to make more friends."

"More friends would be nice," he agreed. "I really found that I get along with Rachel well. We have a lot of similar interests even though she drives me nuts."

"Isn't that the way best friends work?"

Kurt smiled in agreement. "You and Finn should hang out some," he said. "You guys seem like you'd get along well. There's more to him then stereotypical jock."

"I liked jocks," Blaine joked. "Before you, they were my type."

Kurt didn't take the joke offensively, instead saying, "Oh mine too." He stared off as a million things filled his mind. He was just too over stressed. He let out a deep breath, letting his eyes roll back in his head.

"Kurt, don't stress out so much," Blaine said, seeing it. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Kurt's lips that made his heart flutter. It seemed like everything was going according to some kind of plan.


	21. Chapter 21

For the next concert, one of the big numbers and the finale was a song about freedom and finding oneself. Apparently, Rachel had written it with some help from Puck and Tina. It broke Finn's heart. How the hell could they preach about freedom, write songs about being free, when they had no freedom and it looked like they had no chance of ever getting free? It bothered him and before Rachel belted the last note of the song, Finn slipped off to the side. It didn't matter if the show was fun, inspiring and he and Kurt had substantial solos. It was just stupid.

He was joined by the choir director later. "Finn, you alright?" he asked. Finn had heard around the manor that Will was kind of ineffective at times, but at least he was a nice guy. Finn couldn't blow off a nice guy who seemed concerned, even when he was angry.

"That song was nice, but it was so out of place," he said, looking back to where the choir was finishing the song and waving at their adoring audience. "I mean, God, singing about freedom and all of that stuff is kind of ridiculous when you consider everything. Freedom doesn't exist anymore, not really. There's a world out there that doesn't want people like us to exist. We're not free."

Will looked around for a moment before agreeing quietly. "I know, Finn."

"There are just these…traces of otherness, I guess," Finn mumbled, "and they're enough. People are so stupid. Despite all of our weirdness, we have totally normal lives. Why don't people get that?"

He clapped Finn on the shoulder and watched the choir take their bows and exit to the other side of the stage. "They don't all believe that anyone with differences should be removed," he said softly. "There has to be a voice somewhere and I'm glad that this group can be that sometimes. Without Brad and his abilities and the musical talents of all you amazing kids, we'd have never been in a position to share that message with anyone."

"Look at us though," Finn said. "We might have stuff that your resident god needs to conceal, but we're so freaking normal. Rachel is the most beautiful girl I've ever met and I honestly think I'm falling in love with her but she's away from her dads. Sam over there has frekain' wings, but at the same time he's just a normal guy who defends his friends and is good with animals. Quinn's an elf but she's the beautiful girl who came onto me when we first met. We just have love triangles and love and worries about our sexualities and stuff like any other group of high school aged kids."

"You guys also have hope," Will muttered, walking Finn over to his fellow choir members, making a hushing gesture to keep Finn from saying anything damning. "It's why Shannon and I work with kids your age, because you give people hope and you give us hope. You make us hope for a better tomorrow where Rachel's little message of freedom isn't some idealistic dream but a reality."

It was enough for Finn, for that moment. "I guess I get what you mean."

Rachel immediately approached them, throwing her arms around Finn. "I worried about you!" she yelled. "I saw you leave the stage out of the corner of my eye and it freaked me out. Don't do that again Finn. If you're sick, hold it off until after the performance is over. Haven't you ever heard of 'the show must go on?' What happened?"

Finn opened his mouth to answer but Will did it for him, thankfully. "Rachel, Rachel," he said. "Finn's okay. He just had a bit of an emotional reaction to the song you guys were performing. It was better for the group dynamic at that moment, I swear it to you."

"If you say so, Mr. Schue," she muttered, still holding onto Finn.

When the man walked away and they were left alone, that was when Rachel finally let go of him. "Are you okay Finn?" she asked, sympathy in her dark eyes. Finn could tell that Rachel had a hard time learning to care about people, but she was definitely trying.

"More than okay," he said, leaning down to kiss her.


	22. Chapter 22

It was after their latest concert that government officials started coming and suspicions began to arise. Every single one of the kids thought it was this scary, unexpected thing but Kurt couldn't help his more pessimistic, skeptical outlook. Will and Shannon had to know that they were going to get discovered sooner or later. Even with the magical power of their godly friend, there was still the fact that the dreaded, evil slave owner Will Schuester was also the director of a popular, well-received choir that just happened to be full of young people. Kurt knew people were stupid but they weren't that stupid.

He saw the fear in both of the adults in their lives. They didn't know what to do. They averted their eyes and stopped talking when the kids questioned them. It was all very up in the air.

He and Blaine talked about the possibility of the duo's work being discovered. "It's a distinct possibility that has to have always been at the front of their minds," Blaine agreed quietly, shaking his head from side to side. "It's something that could happen. This has to be considered to be some form of rebellion, even though the law hardly dictates what one can do with their nonhuman slave."

"So, no law says you have to be cruel?"

Blaine shook his head. "No," he said softly, "but I don't doubt that some offense could be made up for a man and woman who are completely defying the status laws. They treat us like full-humans. I mean, we even bring in money…"

It was terrifying. Here they were, sitting in a protected house but it wasn't enough. Danger was still inevitable and lurking wherever they went. "It scares me to death," Kurt whispered, looking over at Blaine, but when he looked to Blaine, he didn't see fear to mirror his own. No, he saw anger. Blaine was angry.

"I don't want to lose you," Blaine whispered, a fire in his eyes that Kurt hadn't seen before. "I've already lost everything that mattered, Kurt. I lost my family long before I was taken. They were suspicious of each other for cheating and scared of whatever I was. Then, I lost them for real. I lost school, I lost The Warblers, I lost my safety net. I lost my life. I can't lose you and this place and the only things that matter."

"You won't ever lose me Blaine," Kurt promised. He couldn't speak for much but he knew that Blaine mattered to him now and he wasn't going to let him go.

Sparks flew from Blaine's eyes at those words. Not literal sparks, but a dangerous glow, a scared, frantic emotion. Kurt didn't know what happened before Blaine touched him and he flew back into the wall. He hit it hard, his head crashing against the solid concrete of the wall. He looked up at Blaine fearfully.

Blaine sat there, staring at Kurt. His mouth hung open in something close to shock. "I didn't mean to…my anger…it…did it again…" With those desperate words, Blaine rushed out of the room, leaving a stunned Kurt lying against the wall in shock. He knew that everything was slowly falling apart and maybe it was just falling apart from the inside as well. He sat there for a long time, not sure what to do.

His first instinct told him to go to Finn. His brother was the only person that he knew one hundred percent that he could depend on. He found his brother downstairs in the cafeteria, thankfully. Finn saw the look on his face and the way that he was cradling the back of his head and immediately sprung up to his aide. It reminded Kurt of a promise Finn had made to his father, long before any of this. Burt had asked Finn to protect Kurt. "Kurt, what happened to you?" he asked.

Kurt shook his head. "I'm fine, physically," he mumbled. "Just a nasty headache, to be honest. Can we talk for a minute?"

Finn and Kurt quickly walked over to one of the abandoned tables to the side of the large lunch tables. "Blaine and I were talking about the gossip," he muttered, rubbing a hand to his aching skull. "We were talking about the possibility that the government could come into play and take this thing down."

Finn swallowed. "Rachel mentioned some stuff like that earlier…"

"Blaine got scared," Kurt admitted. "It made him angry. He's like us, you know. They've taken everything from him one by one. He got mad and something activated about his powers. I already told you that he doesn't know exactly what he is, just that his anger leads to bad things happening. He got mad, angry and all of a sudden I was flying into a wall."

"I'll kill him," Finn blurted out. Kurt found that oddly sweet and charming despite the fact that he didn't blame Blaine for his actions at all.

"You will do no such thing, my beloved stepbrother," Kurt said, patting Finn on the shoulder. "It wasn't his fault. He doesn't even know what's wrong with his blood in the government's eyes. Did you know that when they classified him it was as: other? He's a good guy and he got scared. He ran off."

"Did you try and find him?" Finn asked, looking a little less thirsty for blood. That made Kurt significantly calmer.

"No, I wanted to come to you first," Kurt admitted. "I was wondering if you could talk to him. He doesn't really have any friends here and there was something that he said when he was angry that stood out to me. He lost all of his friends. His choir back at home was his support system in a way that his family really wasn't. Can you…"

"Of course bro, that's what I'm here for."

Kurt leaned over and pulled Finn into the tightest hug he could muster.

"Thank you. Now I'm going to go get some ice for my head."


	23. Chapter 23

Finn found Kurt's boyfriend Blaine outside. He was as far from the manor as one could get without crossing the fence lines and he was staring into the distance with a dark expression. Finn wasn't the smartest guy, he knew that, but he understood the expression on the other boy's face. "You're hurting," he muttered, sitting down next to him and drawing his knees up to his chest. "Blaine…"

Blaine turned toward him. His handsome face displayed the shock that he was feeling perfectly. "Finn," he muttered. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Kurt told me what happened," Finn said, deciding that beating around the bush wouldn't do either of them any good. "He's not mad at you and doesn't blame you for losing control of your powers at all. He's actually really worried about you and asked me to come out here and talk to you, even though I kind of suck at talking."

"Talking to me is unnecessary," Blaine said curtly. "I got scared and ended up hurting someone who I think I love. End of story." It was a sudden shock to Finn, to hear this random boy say that he loved Kurt. He supposed that it was easy for love to come fast in a situation like this, though. He felt it whenever he looked at Rachel too long and hard.

"I get why you got angry," Finn said. Sure, he had a kneejerk reaction when he found out that Blaine had physically caused Kurt harm, but he understood the anger that fueled whatever ability Blaine had. It was easy to be angry when everything kept being taken from you. He was angry when he thought about how much he missed his mom, how much he missed his old school and his friends. He understood anger. "It scares me that something could happen to my family now that we've lost so much."

"They just take everything," Blaine said softly.

"They do," Finn agreed, feeling Blaine's pain there. He couldn't help sit there at nights and calculate all they took away from him. He understood that all too well. "They took my mom away from me just when we started a real family. They took my home and my friends. I'm just so thankful that Kurt wasn't taken away from me too."

"He's amazing," Blaine whispered wearily. "I know we've only been dating for a short time but he's really, really special to me. Of course, I had to let my freak powers get out of control and hurt the one person left who still cares about me."

"They're not freak powers," Finn argued.

"They hurt Kurt! They hurt him just because I felt a little angry."

Finn hesitated for a moment before deciding something. He grabbed a rock and kicked it. It shattered instantly. "I have this strength," he muttered under his breath. "I've been reading up on people with Titan blood like me and trying to learn how to use it, but sometimes it gets a little out of control. Have you seen how tiny my girlfriend is? Dude, it terrifies me that I might lose control and hurt her. Or Kurt. Kurt is like equally as delicate, well, on the outside at least."   
Blaine turned away from Finn, but Finn could see that his eyes were locked on the shattered piece of stone. He got up and walked over to it, touching it so that he could see how solid it was before Finn touched it. "At least you have books, some kind of information on the blood in you," Blaine muttered. "I don't know what I am. They didn't even know, when I was taken, which one of my parents gave it to me. I really am the definition of a freak of nature."

"I don't think you're a freak of nature," Finn said firmly. "I think that you're really unique, even in a band of freaks." He laughed and walked over to Blaine. "I also think that you need more friends. Let's go hang or something." He was determined to make the boy that meant so much to Kurt feel safe, welcomed and okay with himself. He owed Kurt that much.

Kurt, meanwhile, had gotten some ice to put to the back of his head and was sitting outside on one of the many lounge chairs littering the ground. He was thinking about Blaine and his sudden outburst when he was approached by none other than the once-closeted giant bully, Dave Karofsky. "What happened to your head?" the boy asked shyly, sitting on the chair directly across from his.

"Accident," he said, not wanting to get into the finer details of what had occurred with Blaine. It was too complicated.

"Ow," Dave mumbled. "Well, anyway, I just wanted to thank you for, you know, helping me out. It's not that bad, coming out and telling everyone that I'm a…that I'm gay. I mean, I've only told a few people but none of them looked at me like I'm disgusting or anything."

"I think that comes from being a repressed minority," Kurt said with a faint smile. "I think the kids here are smart enough to make the connections between their oppression and the oppression of gay people thank god. You should also probably talk to Rachel sometime or something. She has two dads."

He nodded. "I actually did talk to Rachel," he said, surprising Kurt completely. "We talked about a couple of things and I'm going to try out for the choir. I can sing pretty decently, I guess."

"That's awesome," Kurt said, perking up some. "I'm proud of you."

Dave smiled at that. It was obvious he took Kurt's pride in him as something important and very worthwhile. "Thank you Kurt," he said softly. He looked over Kurt's shoulder and then up at the sky. "Have you heard all of the rumors that people are investigating this place?" he asked casually, yawning as he did. He was obviously not as threatened as Blaine was, but Kurt could still see the worry in his eyes.

"I have," Kurt mumbled, thinking about Blaine. The panic and fury in Blaine's eyes was scary, but the scariest part of it was just how understandable it was when you considered all of their struggles. "Does it scare you? Or make you angry?"

."I kind of expected it to happen," he admitted to Kurt, shrugging and giving him a sad little smile. "I mean, they definitely have been breaking all of the rules. I just hope that this place doesn't crumble down because I have no idea what happens next."

"Neither do I," Kurt admitted. "It scares me."

"People have been scrambling to call their parents and stuff," Dave pointed out. "Everyone's scared of what's going to happen next and want that one last phone call. It's pretty intense to realize how scared everyone is."

It made Kurt's stomach twist to think of never hearing from his father again. He knew that he had to make that call. His thoughts, however, went elsewhere, when he thought of the boy sitting across from him. He stared at Dave pretty hard. "How was visiting your father?" he asked delicately, hoping that he didn't hurt him.

"It was okay," Dave mumbled, looking at Kurt with the same sad smile. It was tragic and practically broke Kurt's heart in two. "He's pretty much lost though. My mom always kept him together and sane and he has no idea where she is. I'm kind of worried that he blames me for getting somewhere safe when he has no idea what happened to mom, if she's safe, any of that."

"Oh sweetheart, I am so sorry," Kurt whispered.

Dave chuckled blandly and shrugged. "It is what it is," he said. "I just hope that things get better for all of us and that we make it out of this in one piece."

"It is what it is," Kurt said sagely, agreeing.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AN: I just want to let you guys know that even though these two bits are "the end," it's not "the end" of this supernatural Glee!verse. I have a lot of ideas for it, but I just wanted to take a break from this verse for awhile. More fic will come. I actually want to write a Sam/Dave bit and Puck/Quinn/Finn triangle that involves…well, you'll catch the hint here. I'll come back here with updates when a new fic is written

It didn't happen in an instant, but it felt like it. The government checkups continued to happen over time. The suspicions began to mount; while they grew, Will kept the kids outside of the manor as much as he could. They performed at any opportunity and knew it was because it was keeping them safe. Shannon told them in a hushed, worried voice, to keep stuff packed up in case they had to leave at a moment's notice.

They had to leave on a Saturday evening. Kurt had seen it coming but at the same time it shocked him. "I guess this is it," he mumbled, as he grabbed hold of the one bag that meant anything to him. He looked up at Blaine. He and Blaine had been working together and Blaine was managing his fear. He smiled at Kurt and nodded. "I'm going to go upstairs and grab my bag."

"Meet me out front," Kurt said. He wanted to keep tabs on everyone and know that everyone around him was absolutely safe. He walked downstairs and out the front door. That was when two men cornered him and looked him up and down. "Kid, what's your name?" one asked in a gruff voice. Kurt glanced around, shocked to find that all of the other kids were either at the garage or still inside.

"Kurt Hummel," he said, deciding that lying would only hurt his cause.

When he stated his name, one of the two men looked down at a list. "Come with us, kid," he said gruffly. Kurt felt a moment of panic pass through him. He didn't know what to do. His heart was racing and all he knew was that instinctively he could not go with these men.

"I c-cant," he said. "I have to go to my, my master." The word was halfhearted and Kurt wasn't sure that he was entirely believable, but he had to try. As far as these men knew he was a half-human slave. He was someone's slave, a piece of property. He had to act the part as best as he could manage.

The man grabbed him by the arm when he tried to go past. His heart started racing again, even faster than it had before. He didn't know what to do. He was nothing in a fight and could not hold his own in any way.

In that very second, Blaine came rushing down the stairs. He assessed the situation in a second flat and ran to Kurt's aide outside. "Kurt!" he yelled. Kurt turned his head to tell Blaine to get away from the situation he was trapped in, when Blaine raised a hand and the two men went slamming backwards against the iron fence behind them. Kurt watched them crumple to the ground like they were made of nothing. He stared at Blaine in awe.

Blaine stared at them for a long moment, his mouth hanging open, gaping at nothing. He couldn't believe that he had just done what he'd done. He then came to and grabbed Kurt by the hand hard, yanking him along. Together they ran toward the garage. At that moment, Santana and Tina were coming down. "Run to the garages!" Kurt yelled at the girls, as Blaine pulled him in the same direction. They were smart girls. They would realize the injured men were a threat.

Blaine grabbed Kurt by the hand and continued to pull him along. It was a quick run to the garage, where Shannon was herding the kids into two vans. The cars weren't enough to carry all of them but they were going to have to make do with it. Apparently, Puck was driving the first one, which was a scary thought in itself, but he was one of the older kids so it made sense.

"Boys, what the hell happened?" she asked.

"Two men came and tried to grab me," Kurt spat out. "Blaine blasted them away with whatever his power is."

"Christ," she spat out. "Get in the van."

They quickly scrambled into the van and no sooner had Kurt sat down (practically in Blaine's lap) then did the van take off screeching. Blaine leaned his head against Kurt's shoulder and clung to him loosely, wrapping an arm around his waist and taking deep breaths. "I'm freaked out," he admitted to Kurt. "I'm not supposed to be this close to all these people when I'm freaking out. My stupid power…"

"Saved my life," he finished for his boyfriend, closing his eyes to find his own calm place. "I know Blaine. It's going to be okay though. We're going to get out of here and to some place safe. We just have to have faith."

He tried to adjust his eyes to the inside of the van. He saw several faces. Brittany, the cat-like girl, was leaning up against her girlfriend Santana. Sam was sitting against the back wall of the van, having some injury looked at by none other than Dave Karofsky. Finn was nowhere to be seen. "I think he got into the first van with Rachel and that really pretty blonde chick," he said, still looking over Sam but catching Kurt's eyes for a second, knowing what he was looking for.

Kurt nodded, trying to take comfort in that but still feeling afraid. "Is Sam okay?"

Sam answered for him. "Sam is quite alright," he said with a stubborn laugh, "just aching a little bit."

*  
As scared as he was for Kurt, Finn knew when the alarm sounded that he had to get the people nearest to him to safety. He immediately grabbed his things and took Rachel and Quinn, who happened to be in the hall arguing, to safety. Once they were in the van, he thought that it would all be in someone else's hands, but Quinn broke down and it was up to him to calm her. "Quinn," he said, wrapping his arm around her.

"I'm scared Finn," she whispered. "I haven't been feeling well lately and I've been worrying that…well, never mind about that but I'm so scared right now."

He kept one arm around her and the other around his girlfriend. He knew that Rachel wasn't happy that her romantic rival was in his arms as well, but the girl was freaking out. What could he really do? "Don't be scared," he mumbled, "neither of you should be scared. We knew that this could happen. We'll be okay. We all got out of the house and they've planned a place to take us if things went wrong."

"He's right Quinn," Rachel said. Her voice was distant and cold, but Finn could hear her nerves, just as bad as Quinn's but not as dramatically pronounced. "I've talked to both of them several times about their plans to evacuate us if anything were to go wrong. Brad's also going to be playing some part. We have a demigod on our side. Can we really lose?"

"Yes," Quinn responded quickly.

The ride was long. Finn wasn't sure of the exact time but it seemed like at least three hours that they were driving. Quinn looked around anxiously the whole time, while Rachel fell asleep tucked under his left arm. He wasn't very imposing and wasn't doing any real protecting, but he felt strong, keeping them both safe. It seemed like the drive would never end when finally the nearly speeding van skidded to a stop.

Puck opened the door. Quinn practically flung herself at the other boy. Finn didn't know what was going on with them but he was glad that she could have someone strong to help her out when she was obviously not at her best. He stepped out of the van, holding Rachel's hand as she groggily woke up and followed him. "C'mon Rach," he said, watching as she got up and walked out in that half-sleepy state some people went through in the morning.

The woman in front of them was terrifying. She was tall and blonde, with short cut hair and a red tracksuit on. "So, William's fantastic plans finally failed," she said, rolling her eyes. "Is that Mammoth Beiste coming with more?"

"Yeah, this is half," Puck said, holding Quinn with one arm and staring at her intently.

"Well, get in, the whole lot of you. You're going to get yourself killed and turned into half-human jerky if you stand on my lawn too long."

When Beiste came, she and Sue quipped and yelled back and forth. Finn couldn't help watch for a moment.

"…and then he leaves me with his bunch of ragtag misfits," she ranted, looking at Shannon like a wrathful goddess might stare down at a pathetic human. "I told Will that there was going to have to be a revolution if you wanted any sort of freedom for these kids. I told Will that they were going to have to fight for their lives. He was always too much of a sissy pacifist. These kids want to survive then it's not going to be in their gilded cage."

"Maybe you were right Sue."

"Damn right I was," she said. "If only you two…"

Finn was distracted from Sue's rant when he caught sight of Kurt, checking over Sam with Dave. "Kurt!" he yelled, launching himself over to his brother's side. Kurt turned, saw him and then wrapped his arms around Finn in a tight hug. Even though there hadn't been any danger or bloodshed as far as he knew, Finn had still been absolutely terrified that something bad was going to happen to his stepbrother. He held him tight until he finally found the strength to let go. "Kurt, you're alright."

"I always knew we'd get through it together," Kurt said, leaning up against Finn's shoulder, breathing deeply before he backed off.

"You're a far cry from the guy who wanted to jump out a window," Finn mumbled.

"Well I have hope now."


	25. Chapter 25

Will Schuester sat alone in an Ohio jail cell. He had been interrogated for hours. He was completely exhausted. The guards and wardens had ripped him to shreds, knowing his reputation. "There is no way that the feared Lord Will Schuester is this prissy, vest wearing faggot," slurred a large guard earlier, using a gay slur that made him cringe. It amused Will in a way, because, well he'd done nothing to build up his reputation. His reputation had built itself, people running with a horrific image and spreading it about.

 

For now, though, it was over and he was alone. He looked straight at the bars ahead of him and thought about Shannon and the kids. Hopefully she had brought them to Sue's and they were safe. There was no way they'd find them there. Sue was a bitch to him but she was the best in the world. Sue was the only person capable of taking as many part-human kids as he'd housed and truly keeping them safe until they could decide the next move.

 

He spent several hours more in the cell before a prison guard came. "Your bail posted," the man said darkly. "Your lawyer also sent this for you." He handed Will a letter. "Stay in the area until your trial."

 

"What am I even being tried for?" he muttered under his breath, knowing that the state of the government would lead to some ludicrous charges being pressed against him. He looked down at the letter, well aware that he didn't have a lawyer. He walked out of the jail before he started reading his letter.

 

 _Will,_

 _  
Sue says hello. She and your friends are okay. Speaking of friends, our friends are, of course, now bickering like children. I'm sorry that you've been involved in legal trouble. I am also sorry your nonhumans have vanished. We'll work on getting them back after we settle this legal nonsense._

 _  
I am going to be visiting a prim and proper kid who I have found is some relation to me. In fact, I believe he is a closer relation to Skye than I am. I will return. This is good for me, for us. It makes me think about something Sue told you once while I was in the room._

 _B. E_

 

Will broke into a smile when he read the letter to the end. It was Brad, the near silent demigod -this he was certain of. He understood the vague terms easily. Sue had the kids. They would be safe under the iron fist of one of his greatest allies until they figured out what their next move was going to be.

 

Our bickering friends referred to Sue and Shannon, he was sure. They never could be in the same room without disaster striking but they were both incredibly effective. They took care of business.

 

The last bit made Will think. The only kids who could fit prim and proper were maybe Kurt and - Blaine. Brad was definitely talking Blaine. Skye. Will did not know anyone named Skye, unless Brad meant the sky. Will nearly dropped the letter on the ground when he realized what he meant. Blaine was a god of some kind, wasn't he? Oh shit. Will had picked up a plethora of species of kids – titans, elves, shapeshifters, vampires – but he never imagined that something like that could happen.

 

Lastly, as he walked home, Will thought of Sue. Sue had always belittled his efforts, telling him that it wasn't enough to stick a bunch of part-supernatural children in a cage until they died. It was like keeping a tiger in a cage, or another one of Sue's many dramatic metaphors.

 

 _"The only thing that's going to matter is a fight," Sue said, looking at Will as though she thought him to be absolutely pathetic. "If these kids want to live into the next generation then they are going to have to fight."_

 _  
"They're just kids."_

 _"Tough luck, William," she said darkly. "Child soldiers, sad and all, but what else can you do?"_

What else could he do?


End file.
